Naruto: Tails of the Four
by DivineGuidanceAlpha
Summary: Four kids, Village destroyed. New home: Konohagakure. For a better description, check synopsis in story. Rated M for later raisins. Not saying it'll make it go faster, not saying it won't, but comments are appreciated.
1. Pilot

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 1: Arrival; Chapter 01: Pilot

Shiden Arashi was known for following the rules. He was the best shinobi in their Village because of that. The Village Hidden in the Hallowed Ground had four rules, four very simple rules, pertaining to missions: One, complete the mission, no matter what; two, there will be no witnesses to your actions; three, everyone comes home alive; four, clean up after yourself. Taking these rules to heart was easy for Shiden, and outside of missions, he became quieter, more discreet because of it. He was a neat freak and a team player at the same time, and he was glad to do so.

There was no rule about what to do if you returned from your Jonin test to find your entire Village gone. Not just the people, not just the shrines to the gods; the people, the buildings, the shrines, the graveyard, and a good concave dome of earth beneath the Village. It was as if the Hallowed Ground had never been disturbed a hundred years ago, when the Five Clans made a unified contract with the Five Gods. There was no rule about what to do in this situation, no plan built by any of the clans or their Chosen about what to do when a whole Village has been simply erased off the geography of the Earth. There was one inkling of a plan in Shiden's mind, and he was quick to suggest it as they looked at their now-nonexistent home.

"We need to get to the next Village over. If it is also like this, we may have some kind of chakra monster on the loose, and stopping it...should've been easy for our kin. Which means that there was a traitor, or there was an unknown factor. If the next Village is gone...at least we know what to do."

Shiden's twin brother, Raizen Shipuu, was not known for following the rules. He wasn't known for much, actually, since his brother was continually outshining him. He was equal to his brother in strength, but his brother was the smarter and more skillful. In this case, he didn't argue. There was no rule for anything like this, but they knew how to hunt chakra monsters.

As a Chunin and a lesser sibling, Rai was constantly angry, chafing against his brother's shadow whenever it drowned him. This time, however, there was no shadow. There was no precedent for this situation, save Genjutsu. However, all four of them had the perfect cure for that sealed inside of them. This was no trick, no illusion. "If there is a chakra monster out there that can do this, it is on par with the Four Gods. We may need to unleash them if such is the case."

He could feel the monster inside rumbling with delight at the thought of facing another power equal to itself. The form shifted and changed with the fancy of the will imbued to it, but it was always Zaphos, God of Blood.

The next in command after Shiden, Koen Enryuu, was not a rule-breaker, but he wasn't one who settled well under rules, either. His role as Chosen was one of chance, being the child of the Side Branch for his clan. However, the Main Branch's youngest generation could have no children, and his parents died in the illness epidemic that had claimed a great number of the Fifth Clan when the boys were just babies.

His own God, Hissorius, demanded blood for this incident. The great serpent of magma was coiled tight, ready to strike at anything. Koen kept the burning rage at bay with the practiced calm of meditation. While Shiden decided their path as Acting Jonin, he would focus himself. Still, Raizen's words stoked his fire in many ways; revenge was always sweet, and pushing one's limits with the strength of a God helping was an addictive rush, especially with the power of his lineage at work.

The last member of their squad, the medic, was of three minds. This was, extremely unfortunately, a literal definition; the Chosen of the Kugarian Clan had two personalities existing in his mind, as well as the God of Metal. This was a heavy strain, as it made the clan's faith in him very thin; having only the fearful backing of your parents and the rantings of a giant metal hydra as support didn't improve the situation for either of them.

'_We must hunt down the cause of this and devour them whole!'_ The hydra roared.

'_I am tempted to agree with the giant metal monster, but we have other orders. We were going to be sent as a good faith gift to the Hidden Leaf Village for the Chunin Exams,'_ the logical side, who called himself Ren, added to the conversation. He was practical and duty-bound, like Shiden, but he wasn't willing to let the rules keep him from speaking, especially from speaking his mind.

'_I agree that we need to obey our orders. However, we also need to help our family. We may be all that are left of the Hallowed Grounds shinobi.'_ Normally, Tenso wasn't one for such debate. He was happy-go-lucky, full of energy, ready to kick ass and take names. It was an easy cover for the loneliness and sadness that only his other persona could sense and feel. Even the other three didn't see or understand it.

Like Koen, Tenso was meditating on his answer, trying to get his mind in the right zone to decide what to do. Unfortunately, closing himself off from everyone but himself only fed his mental problems.

Perhaps the mental problems were reparations with the God for all of his power. One of his ancestors had been of the Hyuuga clan, and he could partially activate the powers of the Byakugan. Unlike the nearly unlimited range of the full eye technique, his was more like tunnel vision; he could focus only upon a single target, and he usually had to be able to see them first. Also unlike the Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga, his own style was of piercing the chakra points to make them bleed out, not blocking them. Combining this with his clan's Metal Summoning Jutsu, he was a deadly force alone. This insight into the human body also made him perfect for the team's medic position. It helped even more that the two sides divided the tasks evenly, swapping body control as necessary.

Ren broke the meditation, looking to the others. They could tell by the way he wasn't bouncing around that it was the logical side. "...It doesn't matter what happened. This kind of power...it's beyond the Four. This kind of thing is the realm of the Great Villages, of Tailed Beasts. We don't claim leadership, nor do we challenge your decision, Shiden, but I suggest we go to the Hidden Leaf like my orders were going to be. At least there, we can make a solid base of operations and plan for the future. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, left here for us."

Three sets of eyes were staring at him, but none with anger, only shock and disbelief. Two sets went to Shiden, who had locked eyes with Ren. He didn't flinch, his gaze steady and unwavering, firm despite the pain of loss.

"...I agree with Ren," Shiden finally said, the other two staring more at their de facto leader. "As much as it hurts, whatever did this is probably long gone. We have nothing holding us here, and four rogue shinobi with powers like ours wouldn't go unnoticed. Tenso has to go for the Chuunin exams anyway, and I think you two deserve the shot, too."

"We are already Chuunin!" his twin protested, only to receive a sharp glare with plenty of threat behind it. It took all of his resentment not to just flinch and apologize.

"We are Chuunin by our Village's standards. We never went for proper examination and recognition with the other Villages. We'll be lucky if they let me pass by with it, since the only evidence I passed my Jonin test is a head in a bag and a mission ticket."

Koen finally spoke. "Much as I would love to follow you into killing the nearest monster we can find, Rai, Tenso does have an obligation, and Ren has a point. I don't like it," he snapped as the other opened his mouth, "but it is true. Our home wasn't attacked or destroyed, it has been utterly annihilated. There isn't even a scent left!"

Raizen closed his eyes, breathing slowly and deeply to calm himself. "...You're right. Forgive me for being rash, brothers." Three heads nodded in unison, all looking mildly pained as they fought the rage of their own god. "So...how do we get to the Hidden Leaf?"

Shiden pulled a map from his pack, unrolling it and laying it out for them all to see. "They are located in the Land of Fire, so that instantly narrows it down a bit. As to the exact location, I think Tenso has that."

The smallest member of the group closed his eyes for a moment, and when they opened, they were wet, two small tears leaking out. "Yeah, I know it." He moved to the map and drew a circle. "There's a barrier around it for a certain distance. As soon as we set foot into it, they will know we are there." The other three locked the location in their minds, then Shiden rolled the map up and put it away.

"Let's get going, then. There is absolutely no reason to stick around here any longer." He started first, jumping off the edge of the cliff that had once held his house, straight down into the forest. The others followed more slowly, Koen second, Rai third, and Tenso last. He activated his Byakugan to take a look around, just to try seeing if there was anything strange. Not even a trace of chakra or life.

"...Goodbye, old life," he muttered to himself, then jumped like the rest. They were without a home, and their journey had just begun.


	2. Leaf

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 1: Arrival; Chapter 02: "Be Friendly"

"...Yup, that's a dome alright," Tenso said, the muscles around his eyes relaxing and the color slowly returning to his irises and pupils. "People on the ground without Hidden Leaf headbands are walking into it, but the moment they do, they are intercepted and interrogated by shinobi."

"So, what's the plan, Shiden?" Koen asked, cracking his knuckles; he was ready to bust a head or two to make sure they got in quietly.

"...Tenso is expected. We will escort him. When the shinobi come, he has his letter to explain our presence. Then, I'll go and request an audience with the Hokage. With any luck, he will be willing to help us."

"Why would any Kage be willing to help us?" Rai asked, picking his nails with a kunai. "Our Village was the cause of more unexplained deaths among shinobi than any other, and I'm pretty sure everyone else knows it."

"Doubtful," Koen replied, leaning on their leader with a light smirk. "Leave no trace, remember?"

"I know this feels wrong, brother," Shiden began lightly, "but it isn't the same as running to seek shelter because we're under attack or something. We are _homeless._ We don't even have any other clothing, all of our food for the past week has been caught or found, and even with rivers, I'm sure we all stink of the road. All we have is what we had when we left on our mission, and I don't think I want to try eating a kunai again." Koen snickered, remembering the only time he had gotten their leader to do something just plain dumb.

Rai and Shiden locked glares, fighting a silent battle. Rai eventually gave in, sighing heavily. "...Fine. I still don't like this, but we'll do it your way and play nice with these people."

"Good. Now, remember: be friendly, and don't go picking fights. We're not citizens or even civilians of this country." The four hopped down the tree they had been observing the Hidden Leaf Village from, and set out on ground level.

Ten minutes later, they were inside the perimeter of the barrier and continuing at a slow pace towards the Hidden Leaf. As Tenso and Shiden had expected, a patrol group was upon them in an instant.

"Stop where you are! Identify yourselves!" The four paused, Shiden in front, Tenso and Raizen in the middle, and Koen bringing up the rear.

"We are the last surviving shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds," Shiden said, his voice loud but calm.

"I am unfamiliar with that Village," the leader said, and Koen snickered again, Rai chuckling under his breath.

"We are...were...rather secretive about our location, but we were located between Lightning Country and the Land of Iron. The Village is no more, however." The four Leaf ninja looked askance at each other, nervous muttering beginning. "One of us has been expected by your Lord Hokage, to take place in the Chuunin Exams. We have a letter from our...former...Village leaders detailing it all." Tenso moved forward, letter extended. The leader took it, reading it over silently. "However, as all four of us no longer have a home, we came with him to seek an audience with the Lord Hokage, to ask him if we may be welcomed here." More nervous whispering. Shiden could have sworn he heard the word "spies," but he held his tongue. Before Rai or Koen could catch it, he continued. "We are willing to be taken into custody, if that will help appease you. We will not fight." He could feel three sets of eyes boring into his back, but he didn't let it stop him from raising his hands.

"That won't be necessary. I'm going to send one of my men to check this intel back at the Village. If it checks out, you may enter. If not, we _will_ take you into custody, and our Intelligence Division will get the truth out." He handed the letter back, and one of the men disappeared into the trees, a faint thud every few feet saying he was moving quickly back towards the Leaf.

"So...what do we do while we wait?" Tenso asked Rai and Koen, who just shrugged.

"Meditate," Shiden answered simply, flopping back to the grassy ground and crossing his legs. The other three followed, while the Leaf shinobi watched warily. Arranging themselves in a square, the four closed their eyes and clasped their hands together, breathing slowly and easily. If the Leaf ninja thought this weird, they said nothing of it, just stared blankly while the four meditated.

Another ten to twenty minutes of waiting brought the other ninja back. "They're cleared," he said, breathing heavily, cluthing his side; he had practically sprinted there and back. "The Hokage himself cleared them...and he wishes to speak with whichever one is the leader."

Shiden glanced up, while the other three looked to him with a range of looks: Rai was jealous, as usual, Koen was amused, and Tenso was happy that they were getting to go in. The four stood, looking expectantly at the patrol leader. "...Come with us," he said gruffly, turning and taking to the trees. The other three Leaf ninja did as well, and the four Hallowed Grounds shinobi followed.

A few moments later, they were coming to the great wall of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The main gate was wide open, as if waiting in welcome for the Gods instead of the boys. They passed through, and the four patrol ninja bowed their heads. "Lord Hokage is waiting at his mansion," the one who had gone ahead said. "He said for the others to...make themselves comfortable, get to know the place."

The leader of the group sighed. "He must know your people well, to be so trusting. So, I will follow his judgment, and not leave you with an escort. Just...try not to get arrested. I don't want to be brought in to take the rap for you guys." He bowed, and Shiden returned the gesture.

"They will behave while I speak with the Hokage." He whipped around, glaring at the three like they were known troublemakers. "_WON'T_ you, guys?" All three gave vigorous nods, attempting to give winning smiles. That just seemed to make the patrollers a bit more nervous.

"Riiight...Well, welcome to Konohagakure." With that, the patrol vanished back into the forest.

"Okay, you three," Shiden began, adopting his mission tone, which sounded so like his dad, even at thirteen, that it gave him shivers. "I'm going to go talk to the Hokage. You three explore, find us somewhere to eat, any available hotels or apartments, and don't do anything stupid. If we get arrested on our first day here, I will break arms, legs, skulls, and necks. In that order. Dismissed!" The three immediately snapped a salute, then turned and ran in different directions, eager to see more of this foreign Village. Shiden sighed to himself, wondering what kind of hell he had just unleashed, and walked on.

Koen tracked down a gym the instant he was out of Shiden's sight, eager to get in some proper workout and stress relief; running and jumping and meditating were fun and all, but nothing beat punching something until it was no longer able to even resemble what it was. Within the gym were two boys around his own age, and a little puppy dog.

Deciding against kicking the dog and starting a fight like the serpent demanded he do, he ignored the others altogether and went to a punching post. Clenching his hand into a fist, his knuckles seemed to pop out a bit, swollen and thick from pounding rocks into sand as training. He went against all of his normal training methods and didn't channel chakra to his fists, but the first punch still put a dent into the thick wood, and the sound was loud enough to reach the other two and dog. The canine sniffed a bit when it heard the sound, and started growling in his general direction.

He was quite content to ignore it, until a human voice called, "Hey!" His second swing was a few centimeters off from dead center, but the sound and dent were just as expressive of his strength and frustration as before. Koen's head snapped around to see who had spoken, and it was the more normally dressed one, a kid in a grey hoody and brown shorts. He had a pair of red marks on his cheeks, sort of triangle-shaped.

"What?" he asked, his voice a little more bass and a little more threatening than he would have normally intended, but he really wanted to let his frustrations out, not talk.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" the stranger asked, the dog jumping into his arms.

Koen considered him for a moment, before turning back to his post. "It's a little rude to ask such questions before introducing yourself, isn't it? I didn't stick my nose in your business and ask you anything." He swung again, and the wood cracked.

"Rude?! I live in this Village, and I've never seen you before! I want to know why." The voice had gotten closer, and a bit more threatening itself. Koen turned to see the boy almost within swinging distance.

"Perhaps once you've learned proper manners from your daddy, I'll be polite enough to answer your annoying questions. Until then, back off, please. I am in a mood to put someone in the hospital, and I'd rather it be this post than you."

Before the dog-boy could retort or take a swing, a new voice spoke. "Leave him alone, Kiba. His fists have great youthful power, and he looks quite stressed." Koen's eyes now traveled to the other boy, and he almost laughed; while dog-boy was at least a bit ninja-like, in dark colors, this other guy was dressed in a green leotard with orange leg-warmers and white bandages around his hands. His haircut looked like his mother had put a bowl over his head and cut, then never bothered with cutting it again.

"...You're lucky this time, punk," the one that Koen had to assume was Kiba said, walking back to his side of the gym, while the other came forward. Koen resisted like hell against just knocking the smart-ass down and beating his face into pulp.

"I apologize for him. He is...rather hot-headed," the bowl-head said, and Koen noticed that some of the hair was actually his eyebrows. He couldn't hold back a bit of a chuckle.

Covering it up quickly, he replied, "No, I apologize as well. I've had...a very trying week. All I want is to punch my frustrations out for a while."

"That is understandable, for that is the power of youth. I am Rock Lee, a Hidden Leaf Genin! And you are?"

Koen raised an eyebrow, but decided, what the hell? "...Koen Enryuu, a Hallowed Ground Chuunin by our standards, a Genin by yours. Our Village normally doesn't...didn't...enter the Exams." Though he was across the gym, Koen could tell the dog-boy Kiba was listening, too, and neither seemed to miss the hesitation in his voice.

"Hold on, 'didn't'?" Lee asked.

"...Our Village was destroyed last week. Wiped clean off the map without a trace. Myself and the rest of my team are now homeless." He turned and swung as hard as he could, and the post snapped clean in half.

"...I am sorry to hear that. What would bring you to the Hidden Leaf, though?" Lee pressed, and Koen could feel his anger lessening. Maybe talking it out actually did help.

"One of my team was going to be entered in the Chuunin Exams, along with some of our other Genin, then be exchanged to the Hidden Leaf for some kind of alliance bond. However, now that he's the only one left a Genin in our group, I'm not sure what's going to happen."

Lee looked down for a moment, then looked up with a grin. "You need to train with me! Our youthful spirits can expel all of that sadness!"

Koen looked the boy up and down, fighting back another chuckle. "Uh, heh, thanks, but I'm afraid I might hurt you if I fight for real."

"Nonsense! Pushing one's limits is what the power of youth is all about! Just because I can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu simply means that I can put all of my focus into Taijutsu! I can take whatever you throw at me!"

Koen smirked, the kind of smirk he always got when he was fighting with Shiden or Rai. "A pure Taijutsu user? You wouldn't happen to be related to the Beast of the Leaf, would you?"

It was Lee's turn to smirk. It was almost unnerving when his teeth gleamed in the light. "Gai-Sensei is my teacher. He has taught me a great deal."

"Even better. You're hired." Koen went to the center of the gym, as did Lee. The two went through the formalities, even bowed to each other, then entered two quite different stances; Lee had one hand flat and facing upwards, the other clenched into a fist behind his back, while Koen stood very loose and relaxed, but with both hands curled into fists at his sides.

Lee moved first, seeming to vanish from one spot and appear right behind Koen, spinning with a roundhouse kick that would have hit clean into the side of the head, if Koen hadn't ducked and lashed out with his own leg, taking Lee's balance and knocking him on his back. Spinning to his feet, he vanished again, this time swinging low with a punch...only for Koen to vanish and appear above, his foot coming down towards Lee's head. Only quick thinking saves him from kissing the ground hard, back-flipping to the edge of the little ring.

"You fight quite like myself. Are you also a Taijutsu-only fighter?" Lee questioned, before darting in to start a flurry of blows.

Koen dodged most of them, blocking those he couldn't, and replied, "No, but I studied the Eight Gates, as well as my clan's physical techniques." He dodged back out of Lee's immediate range, his hands a blur. "For example..." He finished his signs, and suddenly his arms and legs seemed thinner, but more defined, like any fat had just been siphoned off of him. He disappeared, and when his foot came down and Lee avoided it this time, it left a crack in the ground.

"That is awesome!" a voice from the sidelines called, Kiba and his dog watching intently. "I've seen someone grow bigger, but never smaller, to get stronger. What's that technique called?"

"That's my clan's Mass Compression Jutsu. Supposedly, we're distant cousins with the Leaf's Akimichi clan, but we don't exactly get bigger. We force ourselves to shed all fat in this state, but it makes us extremely tired and hungry after a fight. Just what I need to burn off steam."

The two swung at the same time this time, and their fists collided in the air. Both recoiled, clutching their arms, but Koen was quicker to recover, thanks to his training to endure just about any pain. Then he swung again, a backhand this time, and Lee was caught off guard. He flew back, sliding as he landed. "What youthful power! I shall have to make this a more even fight, then!" He closed his eyes for a moment, and Koen could almost feel as his opponent opened the First Gate. The next time the two collided, they could both certainly feel their joints pop and something crack.

"Force can't beat force," Koen said simply, rotating his wrist and popping it back into place as Lee did the same. "Especially when my frustration is equal to your...youthful spirit."

Lee grinned, giving a light bow. "Then I shall have to use the power of youth to grow stronger, for the next time we fight! Farewell, fellow youth!" With that, the odd boy flipped back onto his hands, and started walking out of the gym.

Koen glanced at Kiba with his eyebrow raised once more, the dog boy smirking. "I use a different kind of force, but I'm not stupid. If you want to fight me, let's do it at the Chuunin exams. Your friend needs two teammates to get in, right? And there _are_ four of you, if I didn't hear wrong earlier." The dog boy left it there, walking out and leaving Koen to contemplate such an idea.

A crazy, wonderful, terrific idea...

Raizen was all about the food. As soon as he had the scent, he was off, and when he found a small ramen shop for all his trouble, he was certain he was going to be disappointed. Still, he slipped past the little curtain in front, and took a seat at what could essentially be considered the bar. "One bowl of shio ramen, one bowl of shoyu, and two tonkotsu, please," he said in a bored tone to the back of the large man up front.

"You paying for Naruto, son?" the man asked as he turned around, smiling in a way that would reassure anyone frightened by his size.

"Nope, just myself," Raizen answered, figuring that he meant a person rather than the little swirlies that went in the soup. "I've been traveling for a week, and the best I've had to eat was dried mushrooms and whatever I could catch."

The man adopted a slight pitying expression, then smirked more. "Four Ichiraku ramen, coming right up!" With that, he was off, the girl working behind the counter with him already getting the broth and noodles started.

Rai had just closed his eyes to try and gather himself for the meal when a loud voice shouted in his ear, "Old man! Six bowls of everything!"

"Right on it, Naruto!" the man shouted back, and Raizen glanced at him. Immediately, he had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing; a short kid with spiky blonde hair and an orange jumpsuit was sitting next to him, looking like the poster child for the worst ninja in the world. Rai wouldn't have even assumed he was a ninja, except for the headband that he was wearing so proudly. "How was your first real mission outside the Village?" the old man asked as he worked.

"It was awesome! We fought some Hidden Mist ninja on a bridge, but they turned out to be the good guys, so we fought some yakuza guys instead, and I kicked some major ass!"

This time, Rai couldn't help but laugh, and laugh _hard_. Naruto stopped yammering and stared at the newcomer. "I-I'm sorry, but _you_? A shinobi? There is about as much chance of that as there is of me sprouting wings and flying off."

"Shut up, whoever you are! I'm gonna be Hokage one day! Believe it!" This caused Rai to laugh even harder, falling out of his seat.

"It's not polite to make fun of people's dreams, you know," a less grating-on-the-ears voice said, and Rai looked up to see a man with a scar across his face and his hair pulled into a knot at the top, though it kind of made his head look like a pineapple.

Rai got to his feet, his face becoming serious. "When I hear something as amusing as that, I have to laugh. If that kid is going to become Hokage one day, then this Village is already doomed."

"Say that to my face, ya jerk!" Naruto hopped off of his seat, fists clenched tight.

Rai turned around, sneering. "Fine. If you think you're skilled enough to claim that you're going to become the leader of this Village, then you won't mind proving it, right now. No Ninjutsu, no Genjutsu, just you, me, and our fists."

"Bring it! Where would you like to take this?" _At least he's smart enough to know better than to fight in here... _Rai thought to himself, still smirking a bit.

"The next building over, up on top. It looked flat enough for a fight when I was coming here." The blonde idiot raced out and up the side, while Raizen took it at a more leisurely pace, walking up the building. The pineapple-head followed, looking more than a bit concerned.

"I don't think I know you, stranger, and I would know, since I teach at the ninja academy."

"Raizen. I hail from a Village that no longer exists, and I'm here to look after someone important to me. _He_ was invited here. I would rather be anywhere else, if all your students are like him."

"He's no ordinary ninja," the man said, smiling faintly. "I'm Iruka Umino. Not that you'll care."

"It's an honor to meet a Leaf Chuunin. I've never been this far south, so it is a nice change to meet someone polite." Then the two were on the roof, and Rai was facing five of the kid he had challenged.

"Already forgetting the rules? Fine. Watch and suffer, kid." Before any of the blondes could attack, Rai was upon them, his whole body sparking with electricity. In one roundhouse kick, he dissipated the clones, which he was slightly surprised to find solid, and sent the original sprawling. "Shadow Clones, huh? That's actually very interesting."

Naruto was up again in no time, again using the Shadow Clones. This time, he tried something different: "Sexy Jutsu!" And all five clones turned into chicks with nothing on. Rai hadn't cared much about girls in the Village, being distantly related to them all, and he wasn't dumb enough to forget that this was a dumb kid with a pathetic wish.

"I think I'll borrow that other trick of yours," he said calmly, and crossed his fingers the way the kid had. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He created a single clone, and clapped one hand to one of its. The two darted to either side of the group, and began making hand-signs in unison, until the transformed kid realized what was going on. The next thing that happened was a blur, with a lot of loud static filling the air. When it was done, Naruto was on his knees, a pair of kunai digging into the front and back of his neck respectively.

"W-what the heck was that?!" he asked, looking between the two.

"That, kid, was my Lightning Style: Static Thread Jutsu. I learned from another clan in my Village how to make chakra threads at a young age. When I touched my clone, I connected my hand to his via these threads, and they were so faintly charged at first that they were invisible. When I used Nature Manipulation to turn it into lightning, it basically fried you and your clones."

It was obvious the explanation was lost on the blonde, but Iruka was awed, stunned even. Someone so young had figured out not only how to copy the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but they had also planned ahead like this?

"But...It took me a whole day to figure out how to use Shadow Clones! How could you do it in one try?!"

"Simple. I watched your movements, and I already know how to make Lightning, Water, and Wind Clones." Iruka's jaw dropped further.

"Ehhh?! But you're a kid like me! How can you be so strong?"

"...I was forced to become strong, or die." His clone banished itself. "Now, I'm hungry, and fighting you only made it more. Let's go eat before someone takes our food." That instantly cheered up the kid, as Rai suspected it would. He put away his kunai, and hopped down the building. Back inside, Rai's order and the first four bowls of Naruto's order were lined up, eight bowls in all.

Rai paid for his meal before he even began eating, and he was not disappointed; from the first bowl to the last, it was good, and his stomach was temporarily satisfied.

"Hey...would you train with me?" Naruto asked. "I mean, if you're going to be here for a while, I could use someone strong to fight with, so I can get stronger, too."

"...I'll have to think about it," Rai answered.

"I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"Raizen Shippuu. Pleasure." The two shook hands, and Rai felt the chimera stir inside, roaring in anger at something. He ignored it; the beast was always pissed at something, this was probably no different. Still, it was unusual for a handshake to do something like that..._Oh, well. It's probably just me._

The two ate in relative silence, save the slurping of noodle and soup.

Tenso had let himself get lost in the sights and sounds of the new Village, getting acquainted with the streets and ground view for a good little while. Then, he smelled something. Something...unique. He followed his nose to a flower shop, and went in, smiling happily. Here was something entertaining he could do to wait for Shiden.

As soon as he entered, the smell of flowers hit him, and he started looking around. The shopkeeper wasn't in, or if they were, they were in the back. He wandered a bit, sniffing at flowers here and there, smiling as he remembered his mother's garden.

"_Perhaps we should plant a garden here, if we're accepted,"_ Ren said in his mind.

"_**We shall fertilize it with the corpses of whoever destroyed our home!"**_roared Chaindorias.

'_We will fertilize it with fertilizer. If we are accepted here, this is our home now.'_ Tenso smiled sadly as he saw his mother's favorite flower, a blue violet, symbol of faithfulness. Despite their location in the cold, she could make anything bloom; part of her talent, he supposed. A talent she had tried teaching him many times, but Ren got it better.

"Welcome to the Yaminaka Flower Shop!" A feminine voice broke him from his reverie. "How can I help you?"

He looked up to see long blonde hair, vibrant blue eyes, and a smile that could lift most spirits. He grinned a bit. "Just looking for the moment. I'm new in town, and I was thinking of doing something...unique."

"Oh?" She cocked her head to the side, still smiling lightly. "Well, tell me when you're ready, okay?" She returned to the counter, watching him out of the corner of her eye. She was about a forehead taller than he was, but he didn't mind that. She seemed a kindred spirit: bountiful energy and a smile for every situation. Maybe that was first impressions, but he had a good eye for telling that sort of thing.

"Hm..." He found another flower that had been in his mother's garden, but he didn't really know what it was. It was a soft purple, with five petals and a long stamen. There were many of them, so he grabbed about six or seven of them and brought them up to the girl.

"Hibiscus, hm? They are a lovely flower. Do you know what they symbolize?"

"Not in the slightest," he replied happily, despite the almost annoyed look on her face. "My mother grew them in her garden, though, so it can't be anything bad."

"It symbolizes a rare and delicate beauty," she said with a forced smile, like she was slowly and surely getting sick of explaining flower meanings to men.

"Perfect for my plan, then," he countered, paying for them with that smile still in place. Once she had bound them and handed them over, he pulled a single one from the bunch, and handed it back to her. "It goes with your eyes and outfit," he said, walking for the door as the blush began at the bridge of her nose and widened.

"H-hey!" she said, quickly shooting around the counter and to the door before he could get there. "Who the heck are you, kid?"

Tenso felt Ren twitch at being called "kid," but he was used to it for a number of reasons: he was shorter than average, even for his Village; he still had that youthful, adorable-cute appearance that girls went nuts over; and judging by the fact that he assumed she was a Genin, he was probably younger than her by about a year. "I'm Tenso Kuga. Formerly of the Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds, now...just Tenso." His smile remained in place, but his eyes reflected the sadness within.

She must have sensed it a bit, because she patted his shoulder gently. "Well, I'm Ino Yaminaka. Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Tenso. I hope you enjoy it here." She suddenly got a bit shy. "And...if you want, I could show you around after I get off work. I've only got another hour here."

His eyes were still sad, but his smile widened. "I think I would like that. I'll meet you at the Village Gate?" She nodded with a grin, and held out her hand for a proper welcome. He took it, kissed the back of it, and sidestepped around her before she realized he had done so. When she turned to see where he had gone, there was no trace.

"_She was...nice,"_ Ren said, chuckling, as Tenso hopped along the rooftops of the Hidden Leaf.

"_**She was a distraction. We must focus on the mission at hand."**_

'_You say that, my lord, but you liked her too. She is like me.'_

"_**All the more reason to stay away from her. I know the name Yaminaka. It doesn't bode well for you. She will try to peek into your mind at some point, and when she finds out what kind of monster you are, what kind of monster you hold, she will not be so happy to be with you."**_

'_You know, I have to wonder if you're like this because you've never met a girl of your own kind. I mean, every one of your so-called "children" I summon are definitely male, if their voices are any indicator. Maybe we could hook you up with a nice snake girl.'_

Tenso chuckled to himself out loud as the metallic hydra roared and raged in his subconscious.

"_What are you going to do with the rest of those flowers?"_ Ren asked, also amused at the raging serpent.

'_There are bound to be other girls in Konoha. I intend to meet a few of them.'_

Tenso hummed to himself as he walked along, wondering if the others were having as much fun as he was.

Shiden was sick of waiting. The moment he'd arrived, they had demanded he wait. Then they frisked him, took away all of his weapons, examined his headband, even questioned him about the Hallowed Grounds. Then he was allowed into the mansion proper, and told to wait for the Hokage to be able to see him. That had been half an hour ago. Now he was just sitting in a chair, watching a door with dead eyes while his brain replayed his last mission, wondering. _'If I had finished the job faster, if I had killed that man sooner, would my family still be here? If I had killed them all with your power, would I be waiting outside my father's door, instead, for another mission as a Jonin of the Hallowed Grounds?'_

"_**There was nothing more you could have done,"**_ the giant bird within him said, preening itself. It was such the opposite of Shiden himself that he was surprised it had chosen him. _**"I am the God of Logic and Reason, boy. Your father correctly called me the God of Apathy, too. I cared not for worship, I just sought to protect the humans that respected me. You are the last, and so, I will protect you. Even from your own self-doubt."**_

Shiden grit his teeth, ready to snap back in his mind, when the doors opened. "Lord Third will see you now," a voice said, gesturing for him to come inside. Shiden stood, took a calming breath, and walked in.

The Hokage was waiting for him, his hat on, pipe in one hand. "Welcome, young Arashi. Please, sit." Shiden sat across from the man, arms by his side as he watched the elderly man puff his pipe. "You look like your father, you know. I met him three times in this very room. The news told to me by my patrolman, that your Village is gone...is it true?"

"There's not a trace left," Shiden replied, voice amazingly even. "The people, buildings, animals, shrines, gardens...Everything, gone." The Hokage sighed, covering his face with his free hand for a second.

"...I know this is a bad time, but I must know a few things. Such as why you and your three comrades, the 'Gods,' were spared."

Shiden's hands gripped the edge of the seat tightly, eyes narrowing a bit. "...We were on a mission. I have the ticket still, because it was my Jonin Elevation Examination." The Hokage held out his hand, and the boy passed over the ticket, as well as the small bag holding his confirmation. He had a moment of satisfaction when the Hokage opened the bag and recoiled.

"That's an eye!" he said in protest, pushing it away.

"That is a _Sharingan-activated eye,_" Shiden corrected with a light smirk. "It was exactly what the client asked for as confirmation. The leaders were going to send it out as soon as I returned with it."

"...Who was this client?"

"It's on the ticket, some Danzou guy or something." The Hokage looked at the ticket, frowning slightly as he looked it over.

"...Well." He stood, pulling open a drawer, and drawing out a Hidden Leaf headband. "...It's not much, but since you did go to all this trouble to bring the proof with you, I would be willing to induct you into the Leaf at the Special Jonin level."

Shiden stared at the headband, feeing his own in his back pocket. "...What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that, as a friend of your father and grandfather, as friends to the now-gone Council of the Hallowed Grounds, that I am extending my home to you and your team. The Hidden Leaf can be your home."

Shiden continued staring at the headband, silently debating with himself.

'_He is offering us a home...he doesn't know us, doesn't know a thing about me in general, and he is offering me this.'_

"_**He is wise to extend his trust, but there is an underlying current to the reason; if he gives you and your family a new home, then you will earnestly work hard for him. You will willingly fight for him, be willing to die for him. It is a good deal. A good plan."**_

"..." Shiden suddenly smirked a bit. "...I would like to prove myself to you, sir, before I accept that headband. Prove myself as a Jonin shinobi."

The Hokage smirked right back, drawing deeply on his pipe. "And I have a feeling you have a way to do so, don't you boy?"

"I do, sir. I would like to fight one of your Jonin. Not a serious fight, but serious enough to prove my skills."

The Hokage laughed. "Well, then. I will have to arrange it to happen. My son will do, I believe."

Shiden nodded; Asuma Sarutobi was a great shinobi, known in the Hallowed Grounds for his trademark cigarette and the chakra knives that were quite lethal. "It would be an honor to fight him."

"Excellent. I'll send for him, and you two can have a little training bout tonight." Shiden nodded again, thinking. Night was a few hours away...if he knew where the battlefield would be, he could set it up to his advantage ahead of time. "Let's see...the training fields will be empty by that time. Out the gates, and head east. You'll come to a clearing with a fence around it and a creek running through it."

Shiden bowed. "I'll go now, so I can get some practice in."

The third Hokage chuckled. "It's been a long time since I've seen the Storm Style of the Arashi Clan. I hope my son doesn't get complacent." Shiden bowed again and stood, turning to go.

"Oh, and about the other three...Young Tenso needs two partners to enter the Exam. Remember that." Shiden didn't verbally respond, but he knew what the Hokage was getting at.

"_**The old man knows more about you than you thought."**_

'_Shut up.'_ Despite the situation, Shiden couldn't help but grin; it had been a long time since he'd embarrassed an adult. He couldn't help but look forward to it.


	3. Test

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 1: Arrival; Chapter 03: Savage Storm Style: The Fatal Flaw!

Asuma Sarutobi was not looking forward to this. When his father, the Third Hokage, had first told him he would be testing a new Jonin candidate, he hadn't complained; fights were a common test of strength. It was when he had been told that his opponent was thirteen years old that he had protested.

"_That's no age for me to fight," he had complained, looking a bit unnerved by the fact that his father was so calm about it. "If you put me in a ring with a kid, I'll beat him, hands down."_

"_You might be surprised," the old man had said. "He is worthy of Jonin status. I don't know how he got it or who from, but his last mission was to kill someone and retrieve this." He gestured to the small bag on the table, and Asuma felt a sudden hesitation for no real reason. "You can look. It's by far the most unusual token I have seen someone take from a corpse. It was requested by Danzo."_

_Asuma hesitantly opened the bag, immediately recoiling. "That's sick! What kind of kid-" He froze as he noticed something. "...That's...a Sharingan. Why is there a Sharingan eye in this bag?"_

"_He killed the person it was in, a runaway from a number of years ago, if the mission ticket was any indicator."_

"_Surely not-"_

"_No, son, it was not from Itachi Uchiha. But it was from an Uchiha, there is absolutely no doubt of that."_

"_...What kind of kid is this, Dad?"_

_Hiruzen Sarutobi smirked at his son. "He is one of the last survivors of the Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds. In other words, he is as dangerous as any adult." The look on Asuma's face seemed to satisfy the old Hokage. "His name is Shiden Arashi. Go, test him. Don't kill him, and if you can manage it, don't put him in the hospital. With talent like his, I want him to be ready for any mission at any moment." Asuma opened his mouth to reply, but shut it a moment later, bowing to the Hokage and going to do his will._

"I hope this isn't as bad as it sounds," Asuma muttered to himself, pulling out a lighter to ignite the cigarette he had been chewing the butt off of for the past ten minutes of walking. As he ignited it, a drop of rain fell squarely on the flame, putting it out. He closed the lighter and looked up with an eyebrow raised; the skies had been clear and sunny not even a full hour ago.

More droplets fell, splattering across the cigarette and the man's face. He spat the soaked and useless cancer stick onto the ground, sighing. "Can this get any worse?"

As he saw the kid sitting in the middle of the creek, meditating with the water swirling around him, not a drop touching him, he knew he shouldn't have spoken. The moment he crossed through the fence and into the training grounds, the boy's eyes opened, and he hopped to dry land, the creek engulfing the place he had been sitting moments before. "Asuma Sarutobi, sir. It's an honor."

"Save it, kid. I'm supposed to test your skills in battle. Let's get this over with, before this rain gets worse." As he finished talking, the rain started pounding the battlefield, soaking both combatants to the bone in seconds.

"Alright, I suppose we should begin, then." He disappeared and reappeared behind the Jonin, who blocked the kunai jab with one of his chakra blades. The two disconnected, and Shiden vanished again.

Asuma closed his eyes, trying to sense the boy. The rain was so heavy, though, that his sense of direction was severely affected. He would have to concentrate harder on sound in the torrent, as well.

Shiden struck from nowhere again, and Asuma was beginning to understand. He was somehow using the water, for he made no sound before he struck, and by the time Asuma sensed his presence, it was almost too late.

It felt late by the time Koen walked out of the gym, his body worn out and his muscles all nearly destroyed. It was his method; kill the body without damaging the chakra passages, let the God's power heal him; lather rinse, repeat like hell.

Still, looking up at the sky said that a storm was building; he could see the epicenter some distance away. _'Shiden...or Rai? But with this large of a storm, it's been going on for a while! Why didn't they send a call?!'_

"_**Because that is a fight for proving oneself. Shiden's hatred is powerful at this moment. He hates that he must prove himself again and again, when his track record should speak for itself. Never failed, never lost a man, never lost a fight."**_ The tone of the great snake was almost envious, quite admiring, something that he rarely used with Koen, much less often in recent years. _**"Would that every Vessel had his skill and mind. Would that they all had your strength and courage."**_ Koen blinked; the serpent rarely gave out compliments just for the sake of it.

'_...Why are you suddenly so calm?'_

"_**Because I wish to feel this fight properly. His opponent has resentment, but he has no hatred to feel in this. His mind is clearer...despite Shiden's genjutsu. And I am enjoying the thought of your dear leader getting his comeuppance for the pride of the Arashi family."**_ Koen turned towards a strong scent of food, sighing. "Poor Shiden. He has had to prove himself a lot lately. I can get why he would hate it."

Down the streets Koen walked, until he reached the same little ramen shop Raizen had inhabited earlier. His hunger finally surfaced, and he took a seat at the same spot that Rai had. "Yo, sir! Eight extra-large bowls of shoyu ramen, extra pork!"

"You young'uns are getting hungrier, aren't you? I had another young man with a big appetite in here earlier. Had that same headband on, too." Koen grinned; at least one of them had enjoyed a good meal today.

Once the first bowl was served up, he dug in, slurping his noodles with glee. He was never fat, but he liked eating enough to keep at least a layer of insulation on him for his Compression technique.

He would be there for a long while, listening to the snake give play-by-plays of the fight and eating ramen.

Tenso was a bit nervous as he waited for Ino. He was half-expecting her not to show. He was used to it, Shiden and Koen preferring to train together and Raizen preferring to train alone. His cousins had shied away from him when Ren started making appearances, and he would talk to himself in the mirror. Only when Chaindorias had been inserted within him had he learned how to speak within his mind.

Such thoughts were dropped from his mind as he saw Ino approaching. She didn't look any different, per se, but she didn't need to; he thought she was beautiful without having to work at it. As she approached, she grinned brightly and waved at him. He waved back with his right hand, the hand he had been holding the flowers in since he'd bought them. He had started with seven, given her one, and dropped a few into the laps of couples on dates. It was a sweet gesture in his mind, but now he only had three left to give her, which he did with a sheepish smile.

She blushed a bit as she took them, still grinning brightly. "Thanks. It feels a bit weird, though, getting flowers. I work in a floral shop, so I see them all the time. Heck, you bought these from me!" As soon as she said it, her eyes narrowed. "Hang on, you bought seven. One for me in the beginning makes six, but there are three left."

"I decided to brighten a few couples' days," he said quickly, grinning the way she had upon receiving the small bouquet.

"I guess they'll need it. I didn't expect a storm to come rolling in like this."

Tenso looked up, and his eyes narrowed, though he didn't lose the smile. _'I recognize that swirl to the clouds. It's the Storm Style's Weather Ball Jutsu. No call means I'm not needed.'_ He was still grinning when he looked back at her. "No reason a few clouds would spoil a day. Shall we go?"

"You really want a tour when it looks like we're going to get rained on any second?"

"Trust me, we will be fine. The rain is only water, and I have never let it ruin my day."

She looked at him suspiciously. "...You're awful cheery for no good reason, know that?"

"You're very wrong, know that?" Before she could get offended, he added, "I get to enjoy a tour led by a very beautiful girl. If that isn't something to be cheerful about, then I have a lot to learn about big Village life."

"That's right, you said you were formerly of...what was it? The Village Hidden in the Ground?"

Tenso chuckled a bit, though the sadness in his eyes was almost visible again. "The Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds. It is...was...a great place to live, even if it was a bit small..."

Ino may have looked like a clueless pretty blonde, but she was pretty insightful at times. "Hang on. That's twice now you have referred to it in the past tense. What, did the whole Village up and move or something?"

"...Or something," he said, the grin finally losing a bit of size. "The whole Village was destroyed." He felt no satisfaction at seeing her clap her hands over her mouth and look horrified. "Everything I knew...gone."

"I'm...so sorry. Is there anything...no, if the whole thing was destroyed, of course there's nothing to be done..."

Tenso tried smiling for her. He found it easy to smile for others, especially because it was the Kuga motto: "Smile when the world sees your face, for tears only bring more tears." He took her free hand, tugging her along.

" Here's something you can do: I smelled barbecue while I was running around. I'll treat you, and maybe making a good friend will help me acclimate to here better."

She may have been shocked, but the smile just made her blush. She couldn't meet that smile without wanting to smile herself. "...Okay. I warn you, though...I have a healthy appetite." She blushed more, wanting to kick herself; she hated feeling fat, even though she wasn't even the heftiest girl in her class. Sakura had made her feel insecure for a good long while about that.

"Don't worry, I can eat for three on a good day. Besides, I like a girl with a good appetite. It makes it a bit easier to notice when something is wrong." On that cryptic note, he caught the scent again, and started moving faster. She kept up fairly well, but she wasn't sure how he was tracking the scent; she had only heard of ninja dogs having great senses of smell, with a few human exceptions.

When they arrived at the barbecue house that her squad mates went to with Asuma-sensei, she felt a bit odd; he knew her favorite color just by looking at her wardrobe, he thought she was pretty, and he was taking her to her favorite place. If it weren't for a few small things, she might have started crushing on him rather than Sasuke. But, she was nothing if not a woman of principle, and she was trying to refrain from feeling resentful that it _wasn't_ Sasuke taking her on a date, buying her flowers, being just an overall cool guy...

She was so out of it that she almost walked into the door, until he caught her arm and pulled her back. She snapped out of her reverie just in time to see her two teammates walking out of the building.

Tenso was tempted to say something, but he held his tongue when he noticed that Ino had recognition in her eyes. "Hey, you two! You almost hit me with that door!"

The round one spoke first, though it was kind of hard to understand him with his face getting stuffed with chips. "Hm? Ino? What're you doing here?"

Tenso could feel a sudden, blinding rage coming from the girl. "Me? What are _you two_ doing here?! You told me that you were going to be training with Asuma-Sensei!"

The pineapple-headed boy shrugged. "The Hokage had something he needed done, and Asuma-Sensei was his first choice. It's not so much a drag as the training would have been, but Choji wanted to eat, so I offered to cover him."

Ino narrowed her eyes. "That's unusually generous of you, Shikamaru."

Tenso tried not to look out of place, but the fat boy finally noticed him, his hand still on Ino's arm. "Hey, who's this shrimp? Your new boyfriend?"

Tenso would have been fine with the second comment, but the first instantly irked him. He released the girl's arm before he could forget he was holding it and clench down. "I'm no one. Just a new face to the Village." He put on a light smile for the two. "She offered to show me around, but the clouds kind of ruined the plan."

"You're not no one," Ino said, looking between the boy at her side and the ones in front of her. "This is Tenso Kuga. He's going to be living here from now on."

"He's a shinobi," Shikamaru noted, looking at the mark on the boy's jacket. "I don't recognize the symbol, but that is a ninja protector sewn into the collar." He had left the collar and hood down to hide it, but it was impossible to miss if one was looking for it. "Why would a foreign ninja come to another Village to live?"

"Because my home is no longer there." The tone and expression were almost the inverse of what Ino had already gotten used to. Where a moment ago, he had been kind and polite, now he was oddly closed in expression and his tone was almost formal. Ren had come out for a moment, while Tenso forced his emotions into check. "A week ago, I came back from a mission with my squad. The whole Village had been wiped off the map. No people, no buildings, nothing." This time, Ino noticed when he closed his eyes, and the features changed. The face split with a light grin, and the tone became a bit less upset. "But, I feel like I'll like it here. If everyone is as nice as Ino, then I'll be making friends in no time."

The duo looked like they each were going to say something, but Tenso's stomach growling saved them. "Jeez, guys," Ino said, adopting an almost mother-hen tone. "He's starving, and here you are waylaying him to ask questions that could wait. If you're going somewhere else, go. Either way, step aside so that we can go in." The two responded instantly, stepping aside. It was obvious to Tenso that she was the de facto leader of the group. He waved with a little grin as she dragged him inside.

Funnily enough, the two grinned back. He didn't know if he liked them or not yet, but they weren't bad guys.

Shiden struck from many angles, until Asuma channeled enough chakra into his blade to cut clean through the kunai, as well as cut into the shinobi behind it. The Water Clone fell, and Asuma turned to face a wall of water that hadn't been there a moment before. "Water Style: Drowning Burial Jutsu!" As the wave descended upon Asuma, he carved through it, using both chakra blades this time.

"Storm Style: Lightning Drop Jutsu!" He hadn't expected such a quick follow-up, nor had he expected it to be a bolt of lightning that hit him. The pain was momentary, the light disorienting, the blade that took advantage of it sharp. This time, it landed firmly in Asuma's arm, and he knew that the real boy was somewhere nearby.

"So, you combine the powers of Water and Lightning to make this storm, then you use it to your advantage. From the rumors I used to hear, that must mean you _are_ from the Arashi clan."

"So you know my clan name. I would have told you for the asking. As for your assessment of my skills, only two out of three, I'm afraid. Wind Style: Severing Blade Jutsu!" The blade of wind was unexpected, but he used his chakra blades to cut it apart before it could hit him.

"I'm impressed. You're capable of controlling three elements, yet you're only thirteen?"

"My clan made me what I am. Storm Style: Hurricane Compression Jutsu!" This time, the attack was direct and to the point: The boy came shooting in like a hawk from above, his left hand covered in a swirling mass of wind and water. Asuma jumped back, narrowly evading the primary strike, but the kid had planned for that; His free hand formed the release sign upon his other striking the ground, and the mass around his arm exploded outwards in blade-like shapes. Asuma was relying on his chakra blades more than he was used to, but he was also enjoying himself, he found.

"A kid like you would be an interesting student. How did your teachers take your unorthodox style? How did your squads?"

"I repeat: my clan made me what I am!" Whatever Asuma had intended, Shiden had been on edge about losing his family all week. Just talking had finally pushed him over the edge and into rage. "Storm Style: Drowning Deluge!" Asuma had been certain he was standing on solid ground a moment before, albeit with a few inches of water covering it. Now he was being pulled under by a force that seemed to resonate with the kid's anger.

He wasn't sure what it meant for a moment, then he felt the water trying to force itself down his throat, and he had it figured out. But when had he done it? He hadn't done any hand signs where he had seen. Hell, he almost couldn't see the kid from the beginning because of...the...

Had he not been almost drowning, Asuma would have called himself an idiot. Was he not _dating_ a genjutsu master? But this was new...he had never met someone who could do it just by touch, let alone by _contact with rain_. Now that he knew, though, he could feel the chakra within the rain. How a single kid had such a massive amount of chakra...well, his father had said it, hadn't he? This kid was Hallowed Grounds. But Asuma was of the Hidden Leaf. He didn't quit. He just had to find a way to beat this kid.

Raizen had felt the storm building for the past hour. When he saw how centralized it had been, he knew that Shiden was the source. But, no call came out, so he knew better than to go interrupt. His brother's technique couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe in a fight, and once the genjutsu hit, the rain seemed to actively try and drown you.

He sighed, turning in to the place he had tracked Koen's scent to, a gym. It was typical of him to bottle his feelings inside and let them out on inanimate objects or targets, or his squad mates if they were up for it. He was sadly disappointed when only one dummy was utterly annihilated, but someone else, possibly a girl if judging by the long hair, was working on destroying one themselves.

"Hey," he called across the gym. "Are you a local, or a newcomer like me?"

The person turned for a moment, and he saw eyes that were as white as Tenso's when he used the Byakugan. There were no tension marks around the eyes, but there was no mistaking those eyes. He looked Raizen over, then snorted and returned to his post.

Rai, an eyebrow twitching with annoyance, began calmly walking across the gym. "Now, see, you are the second rude person I have met here in the Hidden Leaf," he said, tone light and casual. Those eyes glanced back, more annoyed this time. "And I don't like people who are rude enough to ignore the chance to meet someone new."

"I'm sorry, should I care about that?" he asked, glaring in annoyance. "Because I find you just as rude, interrupting my training to ask stupid questions like if I live here, when looking at my _forehead_ could have told you that much."

Rai smirked. "See, now you've got me confused for someone who cares about _that._ I was trying to make polite conversation with a new person, because I have been forced to dwell here."

The white-eyed boy snorted. "And why is that, hm? Parents move here for the better community? Decided to get away from an annoying sibling?"

Raizen got eye-to-eye with him, glaring darkly. "Because someone killed almost _everyone_ I knew and loved, destroyed my home, and made myself and my team orphans." That took all the bluster out of the other, and it even made Rai deflate. Putting on an attempt at a sincere smile, he said, "Now that that is out of the way, my name is Raizen Shippuu. I don't know what the final verdict is, but I suppose I am going to be a Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village." He extended his hand, and he was almost shocked when the other hesitantly took it.

"...I am Neji Hyuuga. Eldest child of the Branch Families of the Hyuuga clan." Raizen grinned properly.

"Even though you may not think so, it is a pleasure to meet you, Neji. Now, I was looking for someone. Since he obviously isn't here, would _you_ like to spar?" The skeptical look on the young genius' face was almost enough to make this little side trip worth it.

"...You wish to spar. With a Hyuuga. You have my sympathies on your loss, but a suicide attempt isn't the way to go."

"I'm made of some pretty tough stuff. One of my teammates has an eye technique similar to yours. He doesn't use Gentle Fist, however; he affectionately calls his style Spirit Fang."

Doubting the boy's tale at all, having never heard of any eye technique like the Byakugan, Neji said, "Let me guess: Instead of blocking chakra, he bleeds it from his foes." Raizen's look of shock at a correct guess made Neji adopt one of his own. "Wait, you're not serious?!"

"Deadly. He chose Konoha as his place of transfer so he could learn from your clan."

"But that is just...That kind of technique..."

"He is also a medic. And a summoner. He prefers not to use it unless he absolutely has to. Anyway, we are off track. Would you like to train with a living partner?"

Neji took a while to respond, looking at the God Host like he didn't know what to make of him. He most likely wouldn't if he knew about the God. Finally, he adopted the same confident smirk that Raizen had. "...I suppose it will be an interesting fight. Let's get started."

Shiden drew another kunai, watching in shock as the Jonin rose from the water; it looked like he realized it was a genjutsu. He had worked for a full year with the Garuda to figure out how to make the jutsu work; it required such a massive amount of chakra that only Jinchuuriki and other chakra beast wielders could even hope to give it a try. The Weather Ball Jutsu was a staple of Storm Style, drawing in all precipitation it could to make a rain storm, but Shiden had gone beyond that, layering the chakra used to create the technique with a genjutsu created by the chakra of his God.

However, this was the first time he had to hold back the power, and it was tricky; the bird loved drowning people, and it had more influence in the jutsu than he originally planned. Still, now that the man knew about the technique, he couldn't trap him as easily. So, it was back to good old-fashioned hand to hand.

And that was exactly what he had hoped to avoid.

Though he was a skilled assassin, his skill at close combat wasn't as powerful as his parents would have liked. He preferred using tricks and range against his foes, but against another Wind user, that went out the window. Close combat was also a bad idea, as the man was known for his blades. Even in a practice match, he had just turned up the stakes. He couldn't disappoint his family again.

"_**You're thinking about this too much. He already complimented your skills, twice even. His slight against you was not a slight in his mind, just yours."**_

Shiden didn't dignify the God with a response. Asuma had somehow found him, and was already signing something new. "Fire Style: Burning Ash Cloud!" As the man obscured Shiden's vision as badly as the genjutsu had obscured his, the boy's body reacted on its own.

"Storm Style: Hurricane Compression Jutsu!" This time, the whirling energy had barely manifested before he released it, sending the waves shooting out. It dissipated enough of the smoke that when Asuma completed his technique, all Shiden saw around him was fire, but he wasn't damaged at all. However, the moment he thought he was safe, he felt something press against the back of his neck. Something sharp.

"I do believe that I just won," Asuma said, smiling gently. Shiden stared at the man for a moment, before the storm overhead broke. As the last drops of rain fell, so did the tears of an overburdened teenager. Asuma instantly looked awkward as he noticed the waterworks. "Come on, kid. Everyone loses sometimes."

"It's...not the...loss of the fight..." Shiden tried to keep his voice calm and in check. "It's...just...I failed. Again!" Asuma's look of concern only made the self-resentment inside well up more. "I failed to get back in time. I failed to protect my Village. I failed my family, my clan..."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Asuma asked with an attempt at a grin, trying not to sound insensitive. Shiden bit his lip before trying to explain.

"...In the Hallowed Grounds, everyone is...was family. Five clans made up the entirety. Even the shamed fifth clan held cousins, brothers, sisters, husbands, fathers, wives, mothers...I failed them all. I wasn't there to help, to stop whatever happened." His head fell into his hands, the band he had tied around his head for its last use falling into the water below the tree, and the real tears began to fall in earnest. "I don't even know how they died! There were no bodies, no trace...even the shrines and cemetery were destroyed! I couldn't honor their deaths! All I knew was taken from me, and I can't even win one fight to try and help all I have left!"

Shiden would have preferred if the man left, let him collapse in on himself and burn out the feelings. Instead, he felt a pair of hands turn him around, and pull him into a hug. "...Losing family hurts, doesn't it." It wasn't a question. "I have lost family. However, like my father, I consider everyone in this Village my family. So...even if it does hurt, maybe you can make new family here, too. You will always be Shiden Arashi of the Hallowed Grounds in your heart. But, maybe someday, you will also consider yourself Shiden Arashi of the Hidden Leaf. My father hopes so, and, I must admit, having someone like you around to keep us old geezers on our toes with such powerful skills...Well, I already said it, as did the Hokage. We would like you to become part of our family. All of you."

Shiden stared as the man pulled out four headbands, each with the Hidden Leaf emblem engraved into it. Ironically, each was also a different color; one was royal blue, one black, one red, and one white. With shaking hands, Shiden took the white one, tying it at his forehead and drying his eyes at the same time. He took the remaining three with a stronger will, giving the man a watery smile. "Welcome to Konoha, Jonin Shiden Arashi," Asuma said, smiling again.

Shiden bowed his head, smiling properly as well.

"_**Jonin Shiden Arashi. What an auspicious beginning. Your father would be proud."**_

'_Shut up,'_ Shiden replied again, jumping from the tree and landing in the water; it wasn't nearly as deep now that the jutsu was broken. To make it a successful illusion, he had to let it pull him in a bit, too. He noticed his old headband in the mud where it had fallen, and instantly picked it up and brushed it off. _'It may not be there anymore, but the Hallowed Grounds will always be in my heart.'_

As he went on his way, Shiden had to admit; it was good to know there were people like Asuma out there.

Asuma, on the other hand, was slightly troubled that there would be not just one, but four kids like Shiden living in Konoha now. "Heh...we did ask for the world to become more interesting. Wonder how stupid we were to ask such a thing."

Raizen was just as formal as his brother in combat, and he bowed to his opponent. Neji thought to take advantage of that, and rushed in, his hands already glowing with chakra. Raizen dodged faster than Neji thought possible, and his first flurry of blows was completely evaded. "I told you, I trained with more lethal than that. I want to see what makes this style so dangerous. If you won't give me that honor, I will use my own." His hands began glowing with lightning, and Neji knew he had stepped into a fight without any information on his opponent. A bad idea.

The boy struck like lightning itself, his hands curled, but not clenched; the lightning arced off of his fingertips like claws, and Neji could feel the sparks even when he narrowly dodged. This was the kind of opponent he sought, someone who could keep up with him. He tried catching one of the arms, and he certainly got a jolt for the trouble, but he also managed to disable the chakra points in that arm. Rai would have hesitated after that, but he was pumped; such an opponent only came once in a blue moon for him, someone who could attempt to disable him with as much ease as Tenso.

The two traded a few blows, but every time Neji closed off a chakra point, the boy seemed to blow it back open, his chakra exploding out of the point with a golden tint. Still, he didn't use any techniques; This was sparring, and showing off wasn't in his nature. He was as serious about the job as his brother, and no matter how impressive the opponent, it was not worth revealing his storage of tricks until they revealed more of theirs.

Neji was tiring quickly, his breathing becoming heavy; this was nuts, fighting someone with that kind of power. He retreated a few steps, and entered a strange stance; he half-crouched, one arm sticking forward with the hand open and palm-up; the other was directly even, pointing back with the palm down. The muscles around his eyes became tense, and Rai seemed to freeze in his tracks for a moment. "Eight Trigrams..." Then the brunette rushed forward, ducking between the other's arms, striking with two fingers on each hand. "Two palms!" Rai staggered back, as expected. He struck again, faster. "Four palms!" Again, a stagger back, though now he brought his arms in to try and protect his body. "Eight palms!" four strikes in rapid succession had the arms deadened. "Sixteen palms!" Eight more strikes followed, and Rai could feel the points closing up. "Thirty-two palms!" Rai lost track of the pain, mostly because it had all become numb now. Still, he was knocked back with each little strike. "Sixty-four palms!" As the boy closed in for the final blows, Rai concentrated his chakra, and the resulting explosion knocked both onto their backs. Now that it was happening, though, Raizen couldn't stop it; the Chimera's chakra was coming out. He got to his feet in a golden cloak of chakra, and Neji could only stare. This was the first time that his technique hadn't completely disabled his opponent, and the power flowing from him now was much more disturbing than the aura he had before.

Without warning, Rai let out a feral roar. The force from it blew Neji across the gym, and before he landed, Rai was beneath him, knocking him into the air. "Storm Style: Lightning Rise Jutsu!" Neji felt blinding pain as a chakra-covered claw dug into his side. The pain was almost blinding, but Neji resisted blacking out. "Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" The arm was nearly ripped off from the force of the chakra swirling around Neji, but it hit Rai's body an instant later, and the force of it sent the boy down into the floor of the gym.

Neji landed on wobbly legs, his breathing heavy. Though the fight had been short, it was the most demanding and trying fight of his life. He felt like he knew Raizen better for it, and he knew he had revealed more of his own secrets than he would have liked. But, it was also a good feeling, to let out his frustrations on someone who definitely understood what it was like to be second-best and overshadowed by the undeserving. He wasn't sure how he knew so much about the boy without asking; maybe that old adage was true, that true friends could communicate with actions more than words.

Raizen pulled himself from the bodily indent in the floor, breathing heavily. "That...was unexpected. I don't...think...I can do better...right now." Neji seemed satisfied with that answer; he fell on his butt, sighing in relief.

"That's good...because I couldn't fight any more if I tried." Rai chuckled, holding his chest and trying to breathe. "It's been over a year...since I had to fight like this..."

"You must...be out of shape," Rai gasped, grinning. "I know I am."

Neji smirked back. "Well, then...let's see each other in the Chuunin Exams. Everything until then is just practice."

Rai nodded, then let the exhaustion overtake him. He would take a bit of time to heal up, then go and find the others. He _definitely_ was out of practice.

Ino seemed to enjoy herself, and she managed to eat at the same rate as the short ninja, although she began to feel self-conscious when the second plates were brought out. "Is something wrong?" Tenso asked, with genuine concern on his face.

"Oh, er...I just...feel a little self-conscious about my weight," she admitted, blushing as she noticed his eyes on hers. Then she noticed the slowly building rage behind those eyes.

"...Who has been insulting you?" His voice was dangerously calm, but she could almost see something feral in his eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said quickly. "Just an argument between me and Billboard Brow Sakura." The blonde sighed a bit. "We were friends, good friends, once. Then we both started liking the same guy..." She was both a little relieved and a little sad when the fire behind those eyes died.

"...Can I say something honest, without you taking offense?"

She smiled a bit, though she felt like a bombshell was coming.

"You aren't fat. You aren't fit, but I would guess that is because you prefer flowers to fights. That's not a bad thing," he cut across her blushing and most-likely scathing remark, "but if you wish to call yourself a kunoichi, you will need to become stronger. I've heard of your clan, the Yaminakas were one of the subjects of discussion in our ninja school." She looked at him with a bit of confusion. "We learned about as many different bloodlines and clans as we could, so that if we ever had to hunt one, we would be prepared."

Now the confusion gained a bit of nervousness. "What do you mean...?"

Tenso sighed. "The Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds was a Village of assassins. If any other Village needed someone killed and didn't want a big controversy about it, we were called in. Crime bosses, other Kages...we were hired to wipe out a clan when I was about three, maybe nine years ago?" He could see the shock on her face, but he plowed on regardless. "Anyway, yeah. Your clan may be focused on intelligence gathering, but guess what: My clan was focused on summoning. I became a medic and a front-line fighter on top of the old stigma. You can break tradition and become whatever you want. Just think about it." He stood, and she flinched. "...I'll leave you alone, now. I know the look of someone who sees a monster."

He didn't hear her get up, but he felt her hand when she grabbed his wrist and spun him around. He had to shut his reflexes off as her hand flew at him. The smack was loud rather than hard, but it had the desired effect; he stared in shock as her blue eyes flashed with rage in his face. "Don't you dare assume you know how I'm feeling! I meet you, and you seem nice, and you do nice things for me. Then you tell me you kill people, act like I already treated you like a leper, and then you try to walk away before I can even process all of this!" She stepped forward while talking, her other hand poking at his chest as she advanced. Tenso backed up until he hit wall. "Well, let me tell you something, shorty: I may seem shallow, but I am not! And, despite how stupid it sounds, I liked talking with you. I want to talk with you again, but if you try to walk away next time, I will make _sure_ you regret it!"

Before he could do more than sputter a bit, she kissed him on the cheek and stormed out of the restaurant, face almost glowing red.

"_...Well...that was...well."_ Even Ren was speechless after that.

"_**...I stand corrected, Tenso. She is quite the perfect choice for you. Every time you try to pull back into your shell, she will slap you out of it."**_

'_I...you...What the hell just happened?!'_

"_You just made a friend."_ Both the hydra and the alter-persona began laughing, and Tenso had to fight to keep a grin from curling his lips. He failed miserably, and he knew that the cashier was looking at him like he was crazy when he paid for the meal, that stupid grin still on his face.

'_Well, time to go find the others. We still need a place to stay the night.'_ For some reason, however, Tenso didn't feel too worried about it.

If his encounter with a spitfire blonde was any indicator of how things resolved themselves in Konoha, he and his family would be just fine.


	4. Home

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 1: Arrival; Chapter 04: "Is this home?"

Once Shiden made it back into the Village proper, he sent out the signal. It was a measure their parents had taught them to keep in contact over distances, a surge of chakra combined with a whistle. As far as he had found, no one outside of their Village could even hear it. He gathered the chakra into his throat, like he had been taught, and let it disperse with the exhale of the whistle. Those around him would hear the vocal version, but the simplicity of the jutsu was its trump. The sound traveled far, and as long as he continued whistling, the signal would keep going out.

Within five minutes, the other three were at his side, all three looking worn out; in the case of his brother and best friend, they looked physically worn out. Tenso...no, it was Ren in control at the moment...he looked satisfied, but emotionally drained. It was easier to tell with the calmer persona; Tenso hid his emotions too well, and he didn't often let people see the story his eyes told.

However, he was the first to notice Shiden's new addition. "Hey, that's a Hidden Leaf band. I take it that means we can stay?"

Shiden nodded, holding out the other three bands. "We are, from now on, shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. All who would threaten it, beware." Ren chuckled, taking the blue band. Raizen took the black, to counterbalance his brother's new white one, and Koen took the red because he liked the fire symbolism behind it. "However...There is a small kink. You three...are still Genin."

Rai could have punched or hugged his brother, whichever, but he held his peace. "So? We'll just take Aina's and Kuro's spots in the exam. Tenso can't compete otherwise, right Ren?" The shortest of the four nodded, smiling faintly.

"And you were already our Jonin leader, so this just makes it easier," Koen added, cracking his knuckles. "I've met some people here that I would like to fight in this tournament."

"Me too," Rai said, his hands sparking a bit. Now Shiden knew why they both looked so tired; they had been playing.

"Judging from the look of that storm, you had someone to fight with, too," Ren observed, that light smile still in place. "Who was it, how did it go?"

"I'd...rather not talk about it. Did anyone find us a place to stay?" Raizen nodded.

"I met this kid, Naruto. He lives in this apartment complex. Says none of the other ones are taken, and the landlady charges cheap. He's a goofy kid, but I like anyone who has enough spunk to challenge me to a fight over their simple beliefs."

Shiden nodded, a bit impressed; Rai didn't compliment anyone unless they were willing to take a few blows and earn it. "Anything is better than being homeless. Let's go take a look."

"Still think anything is better than being homeless?" Rai asked his brother in a quiet tone, the eldest ninja sighing as he looked the place over. The walls were thin, holes punched in some of them; there was hardly enough space for two people, let alone four, but their money was tight until they could get some jobs under the belt; and there was only a mini-fridge and a microwave.

"It is," he answered, tossing his pack into a corner as a claim. "A bit of fumigation, buying a new fridge and stove, and it'll be just like that one summer house we all got forced to stay in for 'team building'."

"I hated that house," Koen said with a sigh, throwing his bag on the table and beginning to unpack. Out came two full weapon kits, a first-aid pack, and the last of his emergency rations. Tenso unpacked next, more medicine and more rations being his major items. He also had several sets of senbon, lethal needles that could be coated with poison, acid, even chakra.

"We all did," he said, grinning a bit as Koen started sharpening his kunai. "But we made the best of it. Until we can get something better, we will make the best of this, too."

Shiden finished unrolling his sleeping bag, and turned to the rest. "So, tell me about your days, and I'll tell you about mine."

"I met a girl," Tenso said. "I got through half a date with her before she slapped me in the face and started yelling. Then she kissed me and stormed off."

Rai raised an eyebrow. "That...is an odd way of winning a girl's heart, man. Worse than Koen making that one girl cry."

Koen was across the small room and punching his cousin square in the jaw before much else could happen. "Don't you _dare_ talk about Sala! You were the one who pointed her to me when I was in a bad mood!"

"Now, come on, don't fight-" Shiden had stepped between his brother and cousin, only to get a roundhouse kick to the face that had definitely been meant for Koen. Falling on his ass, he glared up at Rai. A small stream of blood began flowing from his nose, and the glare turned hateful. "...Of course, you realize what happens now." He spun to his feet, knocking them off of theirs in the process. A small jolt of lightning leapt from his hands and into each boy, causing spasms to course through them both. "Next time, I drown one of you in the bath and the other in the sink."

Tenso wasn't laughing, mainly because he knew that Shiden wasn't joking. He was a master of Water Style and genjutsu that were water-based. The only one, as far as Tenso knew.

"Now, we're going to be in closer quarters than ever until we get missions done. So, you three are going to practice and train for the Chuunin Exams."

"What about you?" Tenso asked, tossing together some of their supplies and popping the resulting mess in the microwave.

"Not sure yet. As a Jonin, what exactly am I supposed to do? Just sit and twiddle my thumbs until a mission comes to me?"

"I guess, brother. That's what mom did, after all."

"_Mom_ had two kids to look after." Shiden's eyes widened suddenly. "Oh my god, it's worse for me. I have three kids to look after."

Shiden had expected it, but he was jumped upon by all three of his laughing kin; the family wasn't known for fighting fair.

The fight was short-lived, and over quickly; Shiden didn't take dissidence with any kind of leniency, no matter how minor. Three out of four went to bed bruised up, but all four would be fine in the morning.


	5. Exam

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 2: The Chuunin Exams; Chapter 05: The First Test; Brave _and_ Stupid!

Shiden was waiting for his squad outside of the exam room on the day of the test. Koen had taken to sparring with someone he affectionately referred to as "Bushy-Brow," Raizen had been using Shiden himself as a training partner for the first time since they were little, and Tenso had gone off on his own to train in secret. Occasionally, Shiden had caught the boy with the blonde girl, when she and her team weren't training themselves. Ironically, their Jonin sensei was Asuma, and the man had continuously tried to get Shiden to train with them as a motivator. He politely refused every time, coming up with some excuse or another.

Koen arrived first; today he had only gone to the hot springs, the first bit of "public" relaxation that the brawler had done. Raizen was only a bit behind, but he looked a bit worn out; Shiden had given him the task of running up and down the Village Gate twenty times. It was easier than a fight, but he still got a good workout. Tenso was last to arrive, but he was in the best shape; he had decided to take a shower and nap until it was time to meet up.

"Well, you guys are early," he said lightly. "The test isn't due to begin for about half an hour, but better to be early than tardy."

"Right, right. Did you bring us lunches too, Mom?" Rai asked with a light sneer, which Shiden took with a grain of salt; Raizen was never worried about a test, even written ones, but Shiden had been hearing nothing but what a nightmare the Chuunin Exams were. He and his squad were skilled killers and strategists, but there were some things they lacked. Raizen lacked common sense sometimes, and Tenso had his head in the clouds as often as Ren had his firmly on his head. Not to mention Koen...he couldn't take much of anything seriously, but that may have just been the lack of interest.

"Sorry, no lunches this time. You should have eaten before you got here."

"I did," Tenso said with a grin. "That Ichiraku place is awesome. I had beef, pork, _and_ chicken."

Koen grumbled something under his breath, but didn't get too vocal. "Let's just get this over with, yeah? I don't want to be outside when that blonde loudmouth shows up." Koen had had the misfortune of meeting Naruto the morning after they moved in, and everything from the glaring orange jumpsuit to the way he spoke offended the fellow blonde.

"Right, like that duck-ass is any better." Raizen wasn't particularly fond of Sasuke; He had watched the blonde idiot and his team do a few missions, and the guy was just a brooding prick half the time. Raizen could relate, but he had other emotions besides grumpy and bored. Hungry, for example.

"That team is pretty annoying, but they're not all bad. I caught you looking at the pink one," Tenso ribbed Rai, only to get an elbow to the face.

"Don't make me kill you before this thing even gets underway." Raizen had noticed Sakura immediately. Whether it was for the pretty girl act, the fact that she could punch Naruto as hard as he could, or that she looked a _hell_ of a lot like his and Shiden's mother, he wasn't sure. He just felt that there was something special about her, and he wouldn't have minded finding out what...if they weren't going to be opposing each other in the Exam.

That little tidbit had disheartened Tenso for a bit, too, because that was all Ino wanted to talk about sometimes. It got fairly annoying to the young bluenette, almost as much so as her constant babbling about Sasuke. Their little not-dates were full of her bragging about how much more mature she'd be as a Chuunin, then completely ruining the effect by gushing about the black-haired sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Tenso hadn't brought up murder again since their first not-date, though he had come close to mentioning how he had ripped one of those fancy red eyeballs from a traitor with the same surname. It probably wouldn't have ended well, but it might have gotten her off the topic.

The three left their leader outside as they entered the room, none looking back. On the other side of the door, it was full of a dull roar, everyone chattering and talking. Things went silent for a few seconds as eyes shot to the newcomers, then the mass of people resumed their chatter. Only a few eyes were still upon them, including one white-haired teen probably a few years older than them. Tenso noticed, and he could have sworn he had seen that guy somewhere before...but he shook it off, following Koen and Raizen up to the front of the class. With those two leading the way, it seemed like everyone was willing to put some distance between themselves and the trio.

"Cousins...do I seem...intimidating at all?"

Koen snorted. "Let me put it this way, Tenso: the only way you could be less intimidating physically is if you put on footy pajamas with a bunny motif."

"And sucked on a pacifier," Raizen added.

"Good, good. Then my plan is working." Both bigger teens grinned at each other; Tenso liked playing the adorable card in competition, because girls couldn't resist it and guys often felt hesitant to hammer the snot out of someone young. In this case, it might backfire horribly, but Ren would have plans for just such an occasion. He liked surprising people, while Tenso just liked the surprise part.

"How did such a happy-go-lucky kid turn into the number four killer of our generation?"

Tenso's eyes changed slightly, and his smile became more subtle"Deception and a love of the taste of blood," Ren said, stretching.

"Hey, you guys!" The three former Hallwed Grounds shinobi glanced back to see Kiba and his team, Ino and her team, and Neji and his team, all sitting near the back of the classroom. It had been Kiba who had called, and he was waving them over. "Why don't you sit back here with us?"

"Nice offer," Koen called, "but we're good. Why don't you sit up here if you want to talk?"

Kiba shrugged, smirking a bit, as he got up and made his way through the masses. After a moment of hesitation, his teammates followed. Ino stayed where she was, so she could get the drop on Sasuke, and her team stayed right by her side. Neji also remained where he was, though Lee hopped across the desks to get to them quickly. The girl of that team hesitated for a moment, then followed her bowl-haired teammate. She was kind of interested in meeting the guys who had both of her teammates fired up about this Exam.

"Koen, it is good to see you!" Lee said with his usual loud voice and enthusiasm, shaking the fellow brawler's hand vigorously. "And these are your teammates?"

"Yup. Lee, Kiba, these are my cousins, Raizen Shippuu and Ren Kuga." Maybe it was better that Ino had stayed over there, the name change probably would have confused her. "Rai, Ren, this is Rock Lee. The guy with the dog is Kiba Inuzuka."

"I know of your clan," Raizen said, shaking the dog-boy's hand when he offered it. "I look forward to seeing how your Taijutsu matches up to ours."

"Well, if you're as intense as Koen was during the fight I saw, you'll be a fun opponent."

"Oh, no. During a real test, we are far more intense than training." Lee got a steely glint in his eye, and Kiba smirked more.

"I look forward to seeing that. Now, let me introduce my teammates. We're all Leaf Genin, after all." At the nod from all three, he said, "First up is Shino Aburame. He's-"

"A bug user," Ren said, eyes narrowing a bit. Shino just looked passively back. He raised an eyebrow as the boy extended a hand and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I like bugs, too."

When Shino merely stared at the hand for a moment, Ren glanced at Kiba. "He doesn't shake hands. Doesn't do the whole 'human contact' thi...ing." As if to simply spite his teammate, the boy shook the offered hand.

Ren chuckled lightly, watching as a single bug crawled across his arm, seemed to sense something, then fled back up the sleeve. "I hope we can be good friends one day," Tenso said, releasing the hand when Shino released his. As if to further spite his teammate, he then shook hands with both Koen and Raizen, before backing up behind the unofficial leader of Team 8.

Kiba sighed. "And this is my other teammate, Hinata Hyuuga." This time, even the young ninja's eyes expressed joy. The girl blushed a bit, and couldn't hold his gaze.

"Ah, one of the clans I was looking forward to working with most. Ren Kuga, formerly of the Village Hidden in the Hallowed Grounds. These two are my cousins."

"Ah...h-hello..." She hesitantly extended her hand, and he took it, kissing the back of it and making her turn even redder.

"I have the same eyes as you," he said with a bright smile. "I just can't do the same range as your clan."

"Er...d-do you really have the same eyes? Yours...have color to them...and y-" She froze as the muscles around his eyes tightened, and all the color left the eyes. "H-how?"

The muscles relaxed, and the pupils returned. "Eh. Some great-grandmother or so was a runaway Hyuuga. I was the first person in a few generations to exhibit the trait, but blood is blood, no matter how thinly it's spread over the years."

"...It's...n-nice to meet you," she said, finally pulling her hand back to herself. Ren tried to give an encouraging smile, but he got knocked on the back of the head by a rather large fist.

"You idiot," Koen said. "Now you've got her feeling nervous." He, too, smiled at the blue-haired girl. "I apologize, Lady Hinata. He has wanted to meet and train with the Hyuuga ever since he found out he could do that trick with his eyes. Feel free to ignore him, that's what the rest of us do."

"N-no, it's alright...I look forward to training with and a-against you, R-Ren," she said, giving a shy smile. He nodded, smiling lightly.

"Now, allow me to introduce my teammate!" Lee said, and the girl waved a bit, giving a slightly embarrassed smile. "This is Ten Ten!"

"Nice to meet you," Raizen extended his hand first this time, and she shook it with a strong grip. "Funny, our Village didn't have any intel on any Ten clan..."

She raised an eyebrow as he let her hand go. "That's...an unusual thing to say when you first meet someone. What, was your Village some sort of intelligence center or something?"

"Assassins," Koen replied nonchalantly as he took her hand. "We were trained to kill all kinds of people. Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Akimichi, Uchiha...And that's just a majority the Leaf clans." Suddenly the air got a bit tense and awkward. "But, we're official Leaf shinobi now," he amended; thumb pointing at his forehead protector. "Our Village was destroyed while we were away on a mission."

"I wonder why," she said drily, only to flinch when all three sets of eyes turned into glares on her.

"We do, too," Ren said, his voice a bit icy. "We didn't kill without purpose or reason. More often than not, we were sent to kill _rogue_ shinobi or crime bosses. We had rules, just like you do." Ten Ten immediately blushed a bit.

"I'm sorry, that was...rude of me."

"What, you think because we're from a smaller Village, we're all murdering scum?" Ren was on a roll now. Unlike Tenso, he couldn't let things go all the time. He hadn't had a way to release any of his stress except training, and that just made him feel more useless at times.

"N-no, nothing like that!" She was blushing more now. "You've got it all wrong!"

"Ren!" This time, Raizen was the one trying to rein in the split-persona. "Calm down. She just spoke in haste. She's not a bad person." The two locked eyes, Ren's slitting slightly since the others couldn't see it. "...Are you threatening me, Ren?" His eyes were almost glowing the golden color both he and his brother shared, but his pupils were still circles for the moment.

"..." He took a deep breath, and let it out in a long sigh. "...No, Raizen." He turned back to the girl, bowing his head. "I apologize, Ten Ten...I'm just...on edge. This test is important to me, both because I wish to help this Village, and because I was the only one of my squad who wasn't even considered Chuunin in our Village."

She bowed her head in return. "And I'm sorry for speaking out of line. Let's...start over, okay?" She extended her hand, and he shook it firmly, smiling lightly. She returned the grin, and Lee burst into tears.

"Such joyous youth! It is overwhelming!" His teammate sweat-dropped, and she had to elbow him in the stomach to stop the waterworks.

"You're still young too, you know."

As the two walked back to Neji, Kiba leaned in next to Koen. "Hey, is he okay? Whenever I saw him with you guys, he was a lot more...uh, stable, idiotically happy? And I thought his name was Tenso?"

"It is. He's got two personalities. The happier one is Tenso, the serious one is Ren. We can usually tell the difference by listening to him talk." He grinned at the shocked look on Kiba's face. "It's not that big a deal."

"That's actually pretty cool. Anyway, we'll talk more after the exam. It should be starting any minute now." Kiba led his team to the back again, and the three newest Leaf Genin chuckled to themselves.

"I like this place. They don't take things too seriously, and they have varied opinions."

"Yeah, home just had two opinions: to kill or not to kill." They nodded, turning back to face the front and wait...until a certain blonde knucklehead burst through the door, and all three glanced back.

Ren spared Tenso's eyes the sight of Ino flirting with Sasuke, and the other two eventually looked forward too, to avoid the team's eyes. Aside from Naruto, they didn't know Team 7 that well, and they weren't really sure they wanted to. Sure, Rai would have liked to try talking to Sakura, but she was just as gushy over the duck-ass as Ino was, and Naruto had grown on him over the past few days when they met up for Ichiraku at lunch time, but Rai's only intention towards Sasuke was that he wanted to rip those eyes out of his head and make him watch his own ass get kicked. Koen wanted to fight the whole team, probably at once; and Ren and Tenso had no designs towards Team 7 at all. They weren't interested in the lowest-ranking Genin squad in in the Leaf.

Then Naruto opened his big fat mouth. "MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS!" Ren instantly decided that he wanted to fight the blonde on his own, so he could dismantle him and put him back together wrong.

Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing. Instead of getting involved in the following brawl, though, the three Hallowed Grounds survivors turned focus back to the front. They were the first to notice the large group appear by Shunshin Jutsu. "QUIET DOWN YOU WORTHLESS BASTARDS!"

Once everyone was dead silent and turned to the front, he continued in a calmer tone. "Thanks for waiting...I am Ibiki Morino, examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam's first test." He pointed at the source of the fighting, three people with a musical note on the forehead protectors. "Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"

Ren noticed that the leader of the group was more wrapped up than Kakashi Hatake, the leader of Naruto's team and possessor of the title Copy Ninja. "I apologize," he said, tone calm and measured. "This is our first time...we got a bit carried away..."

"Bah," the examiner said, eyes scanning the room. "Here's a good opportunity to say this...There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will _not_ be tolerated." His eyes went to the Sound three, then the Hallowed Grounds three. "Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto was looking nervous, but the Sound trio was almost excited. "Heh. This exam is sounding easy," the other boy of the trio said, his spiky hair reminding Ren of the Copy Ninja too, though his was black and Kakashi's was white.

"We will now start the Chuunin Exam," Morino said. "Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit at the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

Most everyone understood that concept, but then Naruto burst out again. "WHAT?! A PAPER TEST?!"

Ren sighed to himself; he was stuck on one side of Naruto, poor Hinata on the other. However, Hinata seemed happy to be sitting next to Naruto. Ren had to wonder if the poor girl had some kind of brain damage, to like an idiot like that. But, Ino had a thing for Tenso, and he had done almost nothing but put his foot in his mouth.

"Do not turn your tests over," Examiner Morino said. "Listen closely to what I'm about to say: There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully.

'_Typical methods of an asshole teacher,'_ Tenso said from within their psyche.

"The first rule. You guys will all start off with 10 points. The test is made up of ten questions, and each question is worth a point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But, say, if you miss three questions, you will lose three points and have seven."

"_Sounds simple enough. We've done puzzles like this before."_

"The second rule...this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold onto from the initial team total of thirty." Ren heard someone slam their head against their desk.

"Wait a second!" The voice was half-familiar, and Tenso identified it as Sakura without looking back. "I don't understand this initial points system either, but why is it a team test?!"

Examiner Morino glared more at the pinkette. "Shut up, you don't have the right to question me. There is a reason for this, be quiet and listen." When she didn't say anything more, he continued. "Okay, and now the most important rule: The third rule is that during the exam, anyone _caught_ by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, _namely cheating_..." He smirked. "...Will have two points subtracted for every offense." Everyone became tense. "So there will be some who will lose all of their points during the exam and be asked to leave."

'_This is still way too easy. There are a million discreet ways to cheat.'_

"We'll have our eyes on you guys," one of the officers said, smirking right at Ren...or was it Naruto? Either way, Ren didn't like that guy immediately.

"Realize that the pathetic ones _that get caught_ will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to reach the level of Chuunin, _be proud ninjas_. And the final rule...Those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly..." His eyes turned completely deadly. "...will be failed along with their two teammates."

"_...Well, that just turned into a big old bucket of god dammit. Please tell me Koen and Rai won't ruin this for us."_

'_I wish I could, Ren. I really wish I could. They will do their best, I know that.'_

"...I sense that two people want to kill me," Naruto whimpered next to him.

'_...Take pity on him?'_

"_Nope. Not in a million years. Cover his back in a fight, sure, one day...if he earns that trust. Let him cheat off of me, hell no."_

"The exam will last one hour. Okay...BEGIN!"

The exam room was a flurry of papers and scribbling immediately.

The questions weren't exactly simple, but they weren't difficult when one had been working with teachers who were unforgiving like the parents of the Chosen. He began answering quickly, looking around to see how Koen and Rai were doing. They were just as fast, though Rai kept glancing around, like he was getting that feeling of being watched more than the others, and Koen seemed to be nodding off, with how often his eyes slid shut.

Koen was placed next to Sasuke, which seemed to aggravate him more than the black-haired ninja realized. However, he had already picked up on a few subtle hints dropped by the instructor. He let one hand slip beneath the desk, and he pricked his finger with a stray nail. He quickly made a seal on the underside of his desk, and signed the Summoning Jutsu. There was a tiny 'pop' sound, not discernable among the many scratching quills and grumbling voices. Then, a snake was slithering along under the table. He closed his eyes, signing under the table again. The next moment, he was seeing from the eyes of the snake, who was moving quickly for the one that smelled the most of death in the row. Sadly, this was a red-haired kid with the kanji for "Love" on his forehead. Koen didn't know if the snake would make it back or not, but it was a young one. He had many older ones under contract too.

However, the snake was able to change its skin color, and the guy was busy cheating in his own somewhat complex way, so he didn't seem to notice the snake head just barely sticking over the edge of the desk. Every so often, he would pull one hand away from his eye and begin writing. Koen's snake would peek at an answer every time he used whatever technique he was using, and then Koen would write it down. To the casual observer, it would seem he was either in deep thought, or nodding off.

Sasuke suddenly gasped beside him, and Koen knew that he had finally hit the conclusion on the head.

"_**For an Uchiha, he is rather slow, isn't he."**_

"_He's only a Genin. You can't expect him to be that intelligent. He probably grew up being told he was special and actually believed it."_

Koen continued his near-invisible cheating, listening for the pens of the inspectors to scribble. Occasionally, they would. He could only hope it wasn't him they were writing about, keep cheating as discreetly as possible...and hope even more that Rai wasn't going to royally screw them over.

Raizen was calm. He knew enough of the experience questions to skim by on most of the questions, but there were a good number that were just confusing. So, once he had done what he could, he leaned back. He wasn't going to cheat. Most of his techniques were loud and dangerous, not discreet or subtle. He didn't want to risk getting caught; there were enough fools able to weed themselves out without his attempts.

Sure enough a moment after he set his pen down, a kunai flew between Naruto and Ren to land on a person's papers. "What was that for?!" He shouted.

"You messed up five times," the inspector said. "You fail."

"What?! N-No way!"

"The two on his team, get out of here. Right now."

Ren was sweating slightly; he hadn't cheated, but he had been looking at Naruto's paper to see if he had written _anything_ when the kunai flew. Judging from the panic on his face, he had decided not to cheat...then he heard Hinata's timid voice. "N-Naruto..."

Both heads turned to look at her. She whispered, "You can look at my test..."

"_This bastard...she likes him!"_ Ren wasn't sure why that bugged him. It did, and more than he normally would have been.

Suddenly, Naruto got a suspicious look on his face, like he didn't trust her at her word. The shy, gentle princess was not a suspect in Ren's eyes. "Hey, Hinata...why would you do that?" he asked back just as quietly.

She gulped, blushing. "Because...I...I don't want to see you disappear here." When he looked blankly at her, she rushed on in that near-silent tone, "See, the nine of us are the only rookies...we need to work together..."

"Hehe...Oh, I see. I was kind of confused..." Almost unintentionally, Ren leaned forward, putting his head on his arms. He'd already turned his test over, so they couldn't assume he was cheating. Then he heard a snicker from the side of the room, and felt rather than saw Naruto's head snap over to look. After a few moments of contemplation, Naruto began in that whisper again. "Hinata...you don't understand."

"Huh?"

"...An incredible ninja like me doesn't need to cheat."

It was obvious none of the three believed his words, because Hinata almost immediately began protesting. "But...Naruto..."

"Besides, if you helped me cheat, you could get in trouble, too." Hinata showed quite a bit of confusion.

"I'm sorry...you're right..."

"No problem." He turned away, and Ren peeked out of the corner of his eye to see Naruto almost crying.

"_He really is clueless...But he does have one final, tiny ray of hope...that last question."_

'_You think it'll help?'_

"_Not sure, but I don't want to see him disappear either. He...has an aura about him. Something that just makes me not want to hate him."_

Forty-five minutes in, most of the weeds had been uprooted. About half of the teams were gone. The Chuunin inspectors had shown their strength a few times already, dragging many kicking and screaming from the room. Ren watched as some guy in a black jumpsuit with kabuki face-paint asked to go to the can. He was cuffed and taken by one of the inspectors.

"Okay," Examiner Morino said. "We will now start the tenth question." Some of the people tensed up even more, some of them relaxed. Ren was among the latter, while Koen and Rai were among the former. "Now, before we get to it...I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." Everyone lost their cool a bit, even Ren. This was not in the plan. The kabuki guy returned, sans cuffs. "Nice timing," the examiner said with a smirk. "Was your doll playing beneficial?" He looked embarrassed. "Just sit down." Examiner Morino looked out the window. "Now...these are the Rules of Desperation."

Everyone stared, listening intently. This was sounding more and more dangerous of a question to answer. "First, for this tenth question...you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" One girl called, the girl that Koen had noticed with the red-haired guy earlier. "What happens if we choose not to?!"

"If you choose not to...your points will be reduced to zero, and you automatically fail, along with your teammates!"

"What does that mean?!"

"Then of course we'll decide to take the question!"

"And now, the other rule." He was smirking. "If you choose to take it...and answer incorrectly...that person will lose the right to take the Chuunin exam again."

Everyone turned pale, and even Ren felt a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. "What kind of stupid rule is that?!" Kiba shouted. "There are guys here who've taken the test before!"

Morino laughed, a cold and sadistic sound. It was not reassuring in the slightest. "You guys were unlucky. This year, it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out." Some faces looked hopeful, despite the smirk on the examiner's face. "Those that are not confident can choose not to take it...and try again next year."

Suddenly, all four could almost see Shiden's face, looking more and more morose as they tried to come up with explanations for why they failed the first test. Then the Gods snapped them free of their doubts, demanding they grow a pair and face their problems like the shinobi they were.

"Now...let's begin...the Tenth Question."


	6. Forest

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 2: The Chuunin Exams; Chapter 06: The Second Test: Forest of Fun!

Ibiki Morino glared over the group, many teams already gone from being caught cheating. "Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. One your number is confirmed, leave."

Ren waited patiently to hear this all-or-nothing question, not willing to leave. If he failed, he failed. He would go into a career as a medic. He had the talents. Tenso was willing to agree with that strategy.

Raizen was on edge, his nails digging into the desk, unwilling to raise his hand and opt out. He wouldn't live that down. If he failed...well, there were worse things than his brother's disappointment.

Koen bit his bleeding finger, sucking on the blood. The coppery taste calmed him, let him focus. The snake had disappeared as soon as he was no longer useful. He saw the other two and the serious looks on their faces, but for him, it was almost a game. If the previous mind-fuck questions had proven anything, this last one was going to be ridiculously simple or impossibly hard. He wouldn't feel bad either way.

The student next to Ren stood, hand raised. "I...I won't take it!"

"Numbers 50, 111, 130, Fail."

"Me too!"

"68, 1, 13, Fail."

"And me!" So it continued.

As the many people walked, Ren felt the sweat returning. He was afraid...but not for himself. He didn't wish to fail his friends. They needed him, and he needed them. The Four Pillars were inseparable. They had to catch up to Shiden. No matter what.

Suddenly, Naruto was raising his hand. Ren stared at him. Without warning, he slammed his hand down. "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I WILL NOT RUN! I'LL TAKE IT! Even if I'm a Genin forever...! I'll will myself into becoming Hokage, so I don't care! I am not afraid!"

Ren still stared as he sat, breathing heavily. _"This guy...he's a complete idiot! Forget ever being Hokage, with that kind of immature nature, he'll be an eternal Genin without a single doubt! Making enemies with everyone he meets, just because he thinks every little thing is a challenge directed at him...he's like a terrible manga character!"_

"I'll ask you again," Examiner Morino said. "Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words. That's my ninja way!" Naruto replied, more calmly than before.

Ren chuckled a bit, closing his eyes. _"Well, his words bolstered everyone's courage. I think there are about...eighty people left?"_

"_**Give or take. He is a courageous one, Naruto Uzumaki."**_

"Good decisions," Ibiki announced to them. "Now to everyone still remaining...I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

'_...What.'_

"Wait, what?" Sakura asked, looking confused. "We passed already? What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki grinned brightly, a drastic change to the cruel face he had worn before. "There was never such a thing. Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question."

"Then what were the first questions for?!" the blonde from Sunagakure demanded. "They were pointless then!"

"They were _not_ pointless," Examiner Morino replied. "They had already served their intended purpose." She looked confused, so he pressed on. "To test your individual information gathering ability..._That_ purpose."

"...Information gathering...?"

"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This put pressure on each team member not to mess things up for their teammates." Naruto nodded, like he knew what the examiner was talking about. "But the questions on this test were not the types a mere Genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure most of the people came to the same conclusion: 'To score points, I'll have to cheat.' Basically, the premise of this test _is_ to cheat. To help this, we had a few Chuunin who knew the answers mixed into the crowd." Naruto looked like he had had no idea. Tenso hadn't, either, but he had known the answers, himself.

Suddenly the idiot started laughing. "Hahahaha! I saw right though that! You'd have to be a moron to not notice that!"

Ren drove his elbow into Naruto's side, bringing him back into his seat and effectively silencing him. "But those that cheat poorly fail, of course." Examiner Morino pulled off his headband, revealing a hole-filled skull covered with scar tissue. "Because...at times, information is more valuable than life...and on missions and on the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

Raizen stared, remembering a horrible memory of another body with similar scars; his first trip into Interrogations back home. _**"Horrible burns, screw holes, scars...In other words, the after-effects of torture. This is a man after my own heart."**_

"_I will kill myself before I let that happen. My body is not a tool for getting intel from my mind."_

"If the enemy or a third party notices you," his eyes crossed the three Hallowed Grounds ninja, "there is no guarantee the information will be accurate. I want you to remember this: Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and this Village. So, we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

The girl looked confused; Ren assumed she was one of those that didn't have those right abilities. "But...I don't understand the final question," she pressed.

Ibiki tied his headband back in place. "But Question 10 is the true purpose of this test."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Let me explain...the 'Take it or not' decision...Obviously, these were painful choices. Those who choose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to take it again. A true leap of faith." There was a fair bit of grumbling among those around the room, but no audible complaints. "Now, about these two choices...Say you become Chuunin. Your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of enemy ninjas, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you. And, of course, there could be traps set all around you. Now, do you accept, or not?" He looked around the room, glaring again for the moment. "Because you don't want to die...because you don't want your comrades hurt...can you avoid this dangerous mission? The answer is 'NO!'" He smirked, and Naruto smirked right back. "No matter what the danger...there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous...and survive any hardship...This is the ability needed to become a Chuunin."

"Those who can't put their destinies on the line...who cling to the uncertain future of 'There's always next year'...and then walk away from their chance...those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices don't have the right to become Chuunin...That's how I feel! Those who choose to take it...answered the tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future." He smiled again.

"You've made it through the entrance. The first test of the Chuunin Selection Exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

"Hell yeah, wish us luck!" Naruto crowed, until Ren elbowed him again.

"You're really annoying," the shorter kid said, glaring.

"And you're really short," taunted Naruto, only to notice eyes like the fox's, slow slits forming in those naturally red eyes.

"You shouldn't tease people about their height. You're shorter than the average, too." He forced down his anger again, biting his thumb like Koen was biting his finger.

Suddenly, the window near the front of the classroom exploded, and something black came flying through. With a few deft movements, a woman appeared, the black thing covering her revealed to be a banner. "Yo, guys!" The woman shouted. "This is no time to be celebrating!"

Ibiki rolled his eyes as she continued. "I am the Examiner for the second test, Anko Mitarashi! Now, let's GO! Follow me!"

Ibiki muttered, "Extremely bad timing," and the serious face soured.

She looked around the rather emptied room, then glared at the first Examiner. "78?! Ibiki, you left 26 teams?! The test was too easy this time!"

He smirked back at her. "This time...there are a lot of outstanding ones."

She sighed. "Bah, that's fine. I'll at least cut them in half in the second test."

'_Cut us in half? At least? Damn, she's confident, Ren.'_ Ren nodded to himself, watching this new woman with intense focus.

'_Cut us in half?! This test was annoying, not painful. Whatever she has planned can't be much worse.'_ Raizen was focused as well, his eyes narrow as he tried to figure out what kind of torture she liked.

'_...Damn, she's hot.'_ Koen wasn't worried at all; the physical aspect was what he was here for. He had survived the hard part for him. _Nothing_ else could be that hard.

"Ah, I'm getting excited," the woman purred. "I'll explain everything once we've changed places. Follow me."

As they filed out, Ibiki collected the tests. While the completely blank test was intriguing, far more so was the one that had been filled out perfectly with no cheating whatsoever. "Yes," he said to himself with a grin, "there are many special ones this time."

As the group stood before the large fence and more massive forest behind it, Examiner Mitarashi smirked. "Welcome to the stage for the second test, Practice Area 44. Also known as 'the Forest of Death'!" The Genin muttered nervously among themselves again. "You'll soon find out why we call it that."

Koen, Raizen, and Ren, who were standing behind Team 7, heard Naruto snort. "'You'll soon find out why we call it that'," he mocked. "You think that scares me?! That's nothing! I'm not afraid!"

The woman gave an oddly cheerful smile. "Yeah...you're spirited." The next instant, a kunai was shooting past the knucklehead's cheek and almost hit Raizen's face, if it weren't for his lightning reflexes. He caught it, and instinctively dragged his tongue along the edge, tasting Naruto's blood.

While he had the same Kekkei Genkai as his brother, the Storm Style, their mother's side also had passed them a special ability, the "Blood Style." By ingesting ninja DNA, he was able to mimic the ninja's blood type, chakra type, even Kekkei Genkai for a limited time. If he ingested enough, he could even gain a weaker version of that ability permanently. He and his brother had all five elements thanks to their squad mates, but they didn't like showing such a technique; most of the other Villages probably considered it a forbidden style.

When he tasted Naruto's blood, his eyes instantly became slits, and he could feel a massive surge of power...but also the Sealing Jutsu of the Land of Whirlpools. The Uzumaki name wasn't just for show, though Naruto was probably too stupid to know how to do it. He also tasted something else, hidden in the genetic code. He couldn't pinpoint it, however, and he wasn't about to try ingesting more of the blonde's blood to find out.

He only just noticed Anko standing before him, behind Naruto. "Kids like you are quickly killed...hehehe..." Unlike the Chimera's chosen, she lapped the blood off of Naruto's cheek. "Spraying that red blood that I love..." She glanced back at Raizen, smirking. "My kunai, kid?"

Rai realized he still had it pressed against his lips, and he quickly handed it over, ignoring the scathing look from Koen; the snake vessel liked any girl who looked lethal. "Thanks," she said with a wink. "Next time, leave the yummy blood, though. Or I might kill you." He simply stood there, saying nothing. "...You're smart. You might make it a day. Now," she continued, pushing Naruto away as if she hadn't just nearly molested him, "Before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out."

The forms were typical, saying that if they died in the test, the Examiner was not to blame. Rai, Koen, and Ren were first in line to hand them over and get their scroll and key. It wasn't that difficult an idea, a survival test. It was just like camping with the past generation; the kids only had what they carried with them, the adults tried to kill them, and if they died, oh fucking well. It was not the worst way to go. They were led to their gate, but no one was allowed to go until all forms were signed and turned in.

Ren was the scroll-keeper for their team; being medic as well, he was the key player in this game. Rai and Koen were going to keep him safe no matter what. Just to be safe, they quietly decided on a code question: "What are the Four Pillars of the Hallowed Grounds?" The answer was "Myself and my family, and the Gods we carry." If they were separated, they would use the chakra whistle to get back together.

As he looked at their "Heaven" scroll, Ren was glad he was in control; Tenso might have tried to open it. _'I would not!'_

As soon as their gate was opened, the three tensed up. "The second test of the Chuunin Exam...Begins now!"

The three Hallowed Grounds shinobi disappeared into the forest, Ren humming a song their fathers had taught them when they had last gone camping. He couldn't remember the actual song, but it had involved evisceration and missing limbs.

Rai was quiet, focused on getting from branch to branch with lightning speed. Koen was lagging behind a bit, keeping his eyes out for anyone trying an ambush. Little did they know they would be walking in on one that wasn't actually meant for them.

Ren had to stop first; his legs were shortest, he hadn't been chased by as many dangerous things as the others, and he was not used to going at a nonstop pace. Just about the time they stopped to catch their breath, they heard the first screams. "...Ten kilometers. Somewhere along the way...we have to get a scroll from someone else. Killing is permitted." Koen nodded. "...I say we put on our Hallowed Grounds bands and behave like it."

Raizen smirked. "You're talking my language, Ren." Koen was a step ahead of them, pulling the red band out and tying it around his neck, leaving the Leaf band on his head. Raizen put the Leaf band around his shoulder, and tied the Hallowed Grounds band back over his forehead. Ren left the Leaf band around his neck, and put the familiar one upon his forehead as well. The Chimera host looked around, then marked a tree with a cross. "We meet back here in thirty minutes. If we haven't found a scroll, we move forward and try again." The two others nodded at him, and they dispersed.

Rai himself went west from their northbound direction, and he was rewarded with a trio of Mist ninja right away. "Look, a loner," one said, drawing his kunai. "Maybe if we take him hostage, his friends will bring us their scroll." He raised an eyebrow. "What scroll did you punks get, anyway?"

"A pretty one," he said with sarcasm, flexing his wrists. "With polka dots." Electricity began flowing from his palms. The three started circling him, but he was too fast. He jumped upon the first one before the other two could throw their knives, his claws digging into flesh with a ferocity he had restrained since he came to this stupid Village. With a ripping, cracking sound, the ribcage left the chest, and the bones were flung at one of the others. While the de-facto leader writhed and choked on his own blood, Rai jumped on the next one, snapping his neck as a kunai dug into his forearm. The last was covered in blood, and scared.

"S-stay back!" the last one gasped, leveling his second kunai at the monster before him.

Rai's pupils were slits, his teeth bared in a savage grin. Golden chakra began flowing around his body, crackling into electricity on his arms. "Scroll. Now. Or die in a puddle of your own fear and your friends' blood." It was a rapid scramble to pull the scroll out and throw it. Rai caught it after dissipating one hand's electricity. "Go." The ninja turned to flee...and got a kunai into his back for his cowardice. He looked at the scroll in his hand, and sighed. "Seriously?" He tossed the "Heaven" scroll into the coagulating blood, and jumped back up into the trees. "Might as well keep looking. That was ten minutes of extreme waste...I might have had more luck looking inside an animal for a scroll from last year."

Raizen didn't seem to understand the concept of Murphy's Law, for as he took the next jump, something huge moved beneath him, and in the instant that he looked, he was engulfed by a giant snake.

Koen went east from their starting direction, and immediately the scent of blood hit his nostrils. He slid to a stop and bit his finger, drawing blood of his own. He signed the same seal on his hand has he had on the desk, and summoned a large snake, one that could easily wrap around his whole body and still have loops of coil left over. "Go from above. I'll attack head-on," he said, and the snake vanished up the trees. Koen cleared the bushes in one jump, and almost landed on the first enemy before he realized what was going on. A solid chakra-fueled punch shattered an arm and some ribs, his free hand signing. _"Forbidden Fire Style: Infernal Coil Jutsu!"_ From his arm shot a wave of chakra, which wrapped around the ninja, both burning and crushing as it engulfed him. The other one had just drawn a ninjato, ready to stab and slash, when his whole arm disappeared down a snake's throat and the rest of his body disappeared into the crushing embrace of the great snake. "Okay, neither of you are dead yet. Give me the scroll, and I'll let you go lick your wounds. No one dies." The two screamed something muffled, and he sighed. "Orokis, let his head go."

The snake let go of the man's mouth, and he immediately screamed, "LORD OROCHIMARU!" Before more could be said, the serpent snapped the man's neck.

"...You want to scream something stupid, too? Or do you want to give me that goddamned scroll?"

The burning coils slowly unraveled, and he said, "Lord Orochimaru took it with him! The 'Earth' Scroll!"

Koen sighed in relief. "Thank you, someone who is not completely stupid. Now, polite question: Do you want your friend's body for burial, or can my pet have it?"

"He can have it! He can have it!"

"Thank you." The snake was quick to engulf the corpse, but it seemed to freeze up halfway through, hacking and coughing it back up.

"...The only time a snake spits up a meal is when a predator is around," Koen muttered to himself, and as the shadow came over him, he almost face-palmed; how could he be so stupid as to forget the third ninja?

Using his speed and reflexes, he dodged a man who was quite tall, his tongue sticking out far enough to touch the back of his shoulder. He landed instead upon the still-immobilized lackey, killing him with the same gusto that Koen would have. "Yes, snakes do spit up a meal when a better predator is around...and I am the apex of the snake world."

Koen turned slowly to face his assailant, and nearly froze; that milk-white face, the fang marks around the eyes, that long tongue...this was one of the Legendary Sannin, the traitorous Orochimaru. His great-uncle had died fighting him. "...Apex snake?" Koen's voice was faint, his lips curled into a similar, snake-like grin. "How very, very wrong you are. Above any mortal flesh is a Serpent God." The Sannin chuckled, as if he had heard such phrases all the time.

"A god? You think you're above me?" His fangs bared in a demonic grin, those eyes filled with death. "Why don't you prove it?"

Koen rolled his neck, tendons popping. His eyes slitted, matching the man for ruthless killing intent, and a thick, red chakra began pouring out around him. Orochimaru's eyes widened; _that_ would have been a new one, if he hadn't just seen the Kyuubi brat beginning to do it. It billowed, and a pair of golden eyes appeared in the chakra, a low and deadly hiss escaping. Orochimaru thought to attack before whatever crazy jutsu this was completed itself, but the moment it saw the movement, the form solidified into a giant cobra, and it struck like lightning. The Sannin was cut in half...until a bunch of tinier snakes shot from each half and connected to each other, pulling them together again. The giant serpent opened its great maw again, and chakra flames burst out like a gunshot. The Sannin dodged, only to get a serpentine tail slamming him into a tree and holding him there.

"I see...So, this was what Sarutobi-Sensei found in the Hallowed Grounds. That is...absolutely fascinating." He slithered free by turning into tiny snakes again, though a few got burned by the next flaming blast. In the scramble of escape, one of the snakes hacked something up; the scroll! Jumping from the safety of his cloak, only a few threads holding it to him, he jumped and caught it in the air, bouncing off of a tree and landing back in the shadow of the cloak. Orochimaru burst from the ground right before him, thinking to surprise him; but Koen knew snakes as well as the man ever would, and his spinning heel kick met the Sannin's face, smacking him back into the ground.

Koen's breathing was heavy as he started running; the serpent unleashed another torrent of flames before it dissipated, vanishing back into the boy's body.

Orochimaru pulled himself from the hole, his skin melting off in places. As he peeled off the burned flesh, he let out a little laugh. "Kukuku...Well, first Sasuke and the Kyuubi brat, now this juicy discovery. Perhaps I was correct to come here this year..."

Ren had waited for the others to head off before simply returning to the meeting point and sitting beneath it, as still as a lifeless machine. He had learned at a young age about nature chakra, and he could draw a fair bit in, but he mostly used it for healing techniques; the nature chakra melded with the physical and spiritual to amplify his powers for short times. In this case, he was drawing enough in to replenish the physical chakra he had burned to keep up with the burning bullet Koen and the lightning racing Raizen.

He had almost nodded off when he heard the first sound, a twig snapping. His eyes shot open, and there were three ninja standing before him, the one in front smirking. "...So, who wants to die first?" the boy asked, his pupils slowly slitting, the entire eye getting a metallic silver outline. As one, the three started signing, each ending on a different one and unleashing a combination attack: One shot fire, one shot wind, and the last shot lightning. When the smoke from the tri-attack cleared, there was no sign of a body, just the bag that Ren had left aside with the scroll in it. Laughing at their apparent good fortune, the fire-spitting one stepped towards the bag...and something snatched him into the canopy above, something lightning-fast, silver, and massive.

"That's one down," a voice said behind the remaining two, and they spun to see Ren standing on the head of something that looked like a metal snake, though the body seemed to be within the tree itself. "If you don't want to end up as dinner too, you'll drop the scroll and run away." The two glanced at each other, muttering under their breath. Ren sighed. "I hate people who think they're sneaky. Ichi, if you would..." The robotic maw opened wide, and something spherical began forming inside, a silver glow emanating from it. "Last chance. I'm a forgiving man. Ichi is not a forgiving hydra."

Whatever plan the two had been concocting, it withered and died at seeing the orb of chakra. They dropped a "Heaven" scroll and ran. Sighing, Ren slid down and picked the scroll up, putting it away with the other. "Thank you, Ichi."

"No problem, Ren. I wish you, Tenso, and Father luck in this exam." Ren made the release sign, and the metal beast disappeared, leaving only a hole in the tree where the neck had been coming from.

Now that the fun was over, Ren returned to his spot, sitting and meditating. The little prick on his thumb had already sealed up. He only had a few minutes to wait, however, before the other two appeared. Rai was soaking wet, which meant he had just finished washing himself of the blood he had probably been covered with. Koen looked like some of his skin was raw, which meant he had been using Hissorius' chakra. Ren quickly healed over the small wounds, not wanting to risk anything in this competition.

"My way was a bust," Raizen said, shrugging. "Nothing but a damaged "Heaven" scroll. And I got eaten by a fucking snake."

"Mine wasn't damaged and I was on the delivering end of serpentine justice, but we got the same." Tenso had decided to take over for a while, as this was where he was better than the other side; he was unwilling to quit for anything, even exhaustion.

"Heh. I met a tough snake myself. I decided against a lengthy brawl, however, and yoinked this." He held up the black counterpart to the white scrolls in the bag, and Tenso immediately put it in with the other two. "Well, that's the key objective done, and within the first twenty-four hours, too. Let's get to that tower!"

The three set off again, feeling fairly confident about their chances in this tournament now.

That was two parts down, one to go...right?


	7. Tenso

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 2: The Chuunin Exams; Chapter 07: Rage; Tenso's Power!

It wasn't much longer before the three Chosen made it to the tower. Within the first twenty-four hours, they had experienced a few shitty things, including getting eaten by a snake and attacked by a rank-S rogue shinobi. On the plus side, there was only one piece of this tournament left, the no-holds-barred ass-kicking festival that two of the three were looking forward to with glee.

As they entered the tower, there was a giant banner with a phrase on it. It made some fair sense as a metaphor, but there was a word missing near the end. "Think this puzzle has something to do with the scrolls?" Tenso asked, though with how calm he was, even the other two thought it was still Ren.

"Probably. Let's open them now." Tenso handed the scrolls over to the other two, who opening them in unison. As soon as the smoke started billowing, they threw the scrolls. They landed in a cross, and the smoke exploded outwards.

When the smoke cleared, Shiden was standing there, grinning. "Yo. Congratulations, guys."

"What's up?" Tenso said, grinning himself.

"So, now what do we do?" Rai asked, looking around for a surprise fight. "Do we have to wait?"

"Well, yeah. Four more days until this part of the test is over. You could have spent the whole time out there killing off the competition, but I hope you at least exercised some restraint."

"We only made necessary kills," Koen stepped forward, acting as the leader like he often tried to do when Shiden was gone; he had the most time spent, after his best friend, as a Chosen. "And I got attacked by the Sannin Orochimaru."

Shiden processed this. "Did you end him?"

"I decided that there were other things that were more important." Shiden took another moment of processing.

"Well, you three did well. Now, tell me: What is missing from that banner behind me?"

Rai looked up at it. "...If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared. If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages. These rules will guide...something...extremes." He looked back to his brother. "If you combine the scrolls, what word appears, brother?"

"Take a guess."

"Since you appeared, a person."

Shiden smirked. "Very good, Rai. Now, take a rest. You guys earned it."

The following four days were extremely boring and annoying for Raizen and Koen. They spent most of it sparring with each other, while Shiden and Tenso speculated on who would survive to the end of the second test and who would fight who in the finals. Neither had Naruto surviving, though some of the others they met were surefire survivors. The Sand trio, the Sound trio, and Neji Hyuuga were among the numbers.

By the time the test was over, Raizen was running up and down the walls to keep from strangling anyone or anything, and Koen was meditating to keep his growing fury in check; he had been punching the tower wall until someone told him he was causing internal structural damage. "Well, why the hell didn't you make the tower strong enough to take a pounding?!" he had demanded. He hadn't gotten an answer, probably because the tower was supposed to be as structurally sound as the Village Gate wall.

Finally, however, the test was over. Everyone gathered inside the rather large arena that was the base of the Tower, eight teams total. Shiden stood with the Chuunin, Jonin, and Hokage, though most of them kept glancing at him like they didn't know why he was there. They didn't, but that wasn't his fault.

Anko Mitarashi stood at the forefront of the group. "First off, for the second test...Congratulations on passing!"

Every Genin glanced among themselves, gauging each other, muttering to their teammates about who passed or about the large gathering, everyone confused about the thirteen-year-old kid standing with the Chuunin and Jonin.

"Lord Hokage will now explain the third test! Please listen carefully!"

"Thank you, Anko. But before I explain the rules...There is something you need to know. It concerns...the true reason for this exam." The Genin turned a bit tense, listening carefully. "Why do we have all the Allied countries taking this exam together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is..." Everyone listened even more intently.

"A replacement for war among the Allied countries." While the rest of the Genin, particularly the Leaf's own Genin, asked questions of what this meant, the Hallowed Chosen remained silent. They knew the purpose of this exam well. That was why their Village didn't participate. They knew it was a farce, a pathetic hope of keeping away from another Great Ninja War. It was a failure and a sham, for war happened all the time. Their clans had always been in demand for assassinations and war aversion.

Finally, the old man finished his explanation of why people had to die in the job. "Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test...This is a life-risking battle, with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

Naruto smirked. "I get it..."

Gaara was annoyed. "I don't care what it is...Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

The Third shifted a bit. "Yes, I'd like to now explain the third test, but..."

A cough interrupted the old man. "Actually, -cough-...I apologize, Lord Hokage. From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Hayate Gekkou..."

The Third looked at him calmly. "By all means."

The sickly-looking Chuunin turned to look at the Genin. "Hello, everyone, I'm Hayate. Before we get to the third test, we must have a preliminary round. It will decide who gets to participate in the main event."

Most of the Genin looked confused. "Preliminary?" Shikamaru asked. "What do you mean?"

"Umm...Because the first and second test may have been too easy this year...we have a bit too many people remaining. According to Chuunin Exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test."

"No way..." Sakura was staring in disbelief.

"As the Lord Hokage indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test. So the fights could take too long; we are limited in time. So, umm...Those who are not feeling well, those who feel like quitting after those explanations, please come forward now. Since we'll be starting our preliminary immediately."

That got some of the Genin shocked. "What?! Right now?!"

However, no one stepped forward, no one made a request to drop out just yet. Sakura seemed to be tearfully pleading with Sasuke, who was clutching his shoulder in obvious strain and pain. However, he brushed off her tears and request, his eyes determined. Raizen felt something roar inside himself, and it wasn't the Chimera. He wanted to throttle the Uchiha bastard, make him see that people cared about him and that making them hurt was just stupid. Naruto tried to get him to give in too, but Sasuke ruined that plan. "Naruto...I also want to fight you..."

Shiden's ears caught Ibiki Morino and Lord Hokage whispering about stopping Sasuke from fighting if something flared up. What, the Sharingan? It wasn't that big a threat. Anko Mitarashi and Kakashi Hatake also joined in. Shiden didn't care about any of that; he was watching the Sound Village Chuunin standing among them. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Sasuke except to lock them onto Koen occasionally.

Hayate caught everyone's attention with another cough. "Um...now...let's begin the preliminary. It will consist of one-on-one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real confrontation. Since we have twenty-four contestants, we will conduct twelve matches and...umm...the winners will advance to the third test." He looked over them. "There are basically no rules. –cough- The fight continues until one of you dies, is knocked out, or admits defeat. If you don't want to die, give up fast. But when I decide that a winner has been clearly established, since we don't want to pointlessly add to the pile of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things." Shiden had to resist laughing; the guy sounded like he had one foot in the grave already.

"The object that controls your destiny...is this." The wall opened up beside them, and all eyes went up to see... "This electric scoreboard will show the match-ups for each battle." He had a slight coughing fit, then continued. "Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

All eyes went back to the board, where it flashed through the kanji for each name, until it stopped on Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado. The two moved to the middle of the room. "The two participants in the first fight are Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado. Are you both ready?" Both nodded. "The first match of the preliminaries is about to begin. All not involved with this fight, please proceed to the upper levels."

Shiden and his group were first up, Lee and Gai a mere instant behind. Everyone else took their time coming up. Kiba and his team were on the Hallowed Grounds team's right, while Team 7 was on their left. Ino's team was on Kiba's other side, and Lee's team was on the other side of Team 7. The Sand and Sound shinobi were on the oppsite side, along with Kabuto and his remaining teammate.

The fight was a wash, in Shiden's mind; Sasuke used only Taijutsu, and still managed to win. Then Kakashi took him away somewhere. The next fight was a little more interesting; Shino Aburame versus one of the Sound 3, Zaku. Tenso actually cheered for the bug user, and sure enough, it was a quick win, with Zaku's arms getting blown clean off by his own power and plugged holes. After that, Kankuro of the Sand decimated Kabuto's other teammate.

Finally, Raizen's name was picked, as was Kabuto Yakishi's. However, the older teen instantly said, "I forfeit. I thought I could continue, but I'm...still not quite right. The blow I took from the Sound ninja before the exam has my left ear almost deafened, and my balance is off. So...I surrender."

Raizen's fists clenched, and he turned to punch the wall behind him, leaving a large dent. "...This Village is full of pussies," he hissed to his brother. "If I don't get to fight soon, I will be severely vexed."

"Don't worry, brother. Now you have a guarantee of only the strong to face."

"That doesn't help my desires now. I want to fight, brother. I want to break bone, cut flesh. I want blood. I _demand_ it."

"Then you will get it," Shiden said, looking his brother squarely in the eye. "It has been too long since we fought like real Shippuu siblings."

That seemed to calm the boy, though a few people were watching for another outburst. When he returned to the railing to watch Sakura and Ino making small talk, they calmed down. The fight took a long while, with Ino finally catching Sakura with her mind-possession and still getting pushed out, and the end was a total upset. Both girls out cold and disqualified. Their teammates seemed worried, but Koen laughed. "That's not the way to throw a punch. They would have been forced to get up and do it again if they were from our Village, most likely to the death for all that talk of rivalry. There is no such thing as a tie, they both lose." Everyone stared at the snake-bearer.

"They tried their hardest!" Naruto said, glaring.

"Then their best was pathetic," Koen hissed back, his eyes beginning to slit. Shiden put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, and the calm was forced back onto the surface. "...No, that was rude of me. I apologize." But he and the rest of the Hallowed survivors agreed; that was just sad.

Finally, one of their names were called again; Tenso versus Temari. As he hopped down, the girl scoffed. "So they send the shrimpy weakling of the group to take me on?" Tenso's eye twitched slightly, his smile becoming forced. "Come on, do they really need to see two back-to-back fights between girls?"

That did it, and Shiden wasn't going to interfere this time. She had decided to goad him, and she was about to see why the God of Metal had chosen such a vessel. "She's underestimating him," he said, seeing Shikamaru glance his way out of the corner of his eye. "Go get her, Ren!"

"Who?" Shikamaru asked, showing that he was indeed listening.

"Oh, I forgot that no one here knows about it. See, Tenso has a split personality. One side, Tenso, is a lot like Naruto, but smart. The other, Ren...I suppose the closest comparison stat-wise I've seen is Neji Hyuuga."

While Shikamaru and Ino, who had just woken up, stared in shock, Tenso rushed the girl. She opened her fan and swung it in a single motion, sending ripping waves of wind out. He seemed to weave through the wind, his eyes turning feral. She froze in the middle of her next swing, terror filling her.

Before she could snap out of it, the small ninja was before her, both hands bloody. He flipped over her, slapping the wall with both hands. As the girl turned to try and counter whatever was going to happen, she was struck by a giant metal snake's head. Another snatched her from the air and threw her down, cracking the ground with the force of impact. Tenso was standing on a small metallic dome extruding from the wall. Unlike before, this version had two heads. "Nii, please make her suffer."

"As you wish, Tenso." The people above were dead silent in shock, even Gaara.

Then Kankuro broke the silence. "Temari, forfeit! This guy is a monster!"

Whether or not she heard him, she didn't take the advice. She swung again, the ripping wind useless against the metal beast. The heads pursued her, making her flip back out of their range. As she landed, she noticed a shadow. The next thing she knew, there was a hand sticking through her abdomen, covered in a steely gray chakra. She stared at it, then at the boy.

"See," Shiden explained calmly, "he's really a genius beneath the goofy exterior. He just hates violence for the sake of violence. Missions dictate death as a necessity, so does war. Even this, if necessary, is a place for killing."

As she slid to the ground, her vision unfocused, she saw those feral eyes, that killing intent. Then she seemed to be nowhere, floating in space. A voice echoed around her. _**"You are brave, Sand Girl. Tenso doesn't snap often, but when he does, he is as precise as a machine. You won't die, but you will be unable to use your chakra for a while. Spend that time thinking on whether it is worth it to be cruel."**_

Tenso calmly pulled his hand from the girl's guts, and as she fell, he caught her. He laid her out calmly, and the steely gray aura was replaced with the green of healing chakra. Quickly, he seemed to heal the internal damage, then close the exterior wounds.

"Tenso Kuga is the winner!" Hayate called, and the Sand shinobi leader appeared beside the unconscious girl. He swept her over his shoulder, and returned to his side of the upstairs. Tenso locked eyes with Kankuro, smiling politely.

"She'll live. Just don't make her work too hard for a day or two." Then he looked at Gaara, and the redhead held an insane grin. Tenso chuckled, and returned to his teammates. Raizen clapped him on the back, and Shiden smirked.

"That's two of you moving on."


	8. Koen

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 2: The Chuunin Exams; Chapter 08: The Monsters and the Beasts

The next match was Shikamaru versus another of the Sound three; the female, Kin. It was over almost from the moment Shikamaru got on the field, and Shiden knew it; the boy was a born strategist, just from how he picked apart the plan of his opponent with ease. Sure enough, the girl was out in under five minutes.

The next match was intriguing: Ten Ten versus Naruto Uzumaki. The loudmouthed ninja used his clones to match the girl weapon for weapon, though she didn't seem to notice something rather important. "...The clone weapons aren't disappearing after they hit the ground," Tenso observed. "Yet he keeps making more clones...He has a massive reserve of stamina."

"He possesses the Kyuubi," Rai said bluntly. "I could taste it in his blood. Zaphos also sensed him when we first met." Suddenly, all three others were watching intently as the fighting continued. Finally, Ten Ten switched to a melee weapon...and was pounced upon by an army of Naruto clones. That kind of overwhelming force was impossible to keep up with, and she went down with effort.

The board flashed again, and Koen's dark glare turned into satisfaction. "The next match is between Kiba Inuzuka and Koen Enryuu!" The two landed at the same time, facing each other.

Koen, unlike the other two, gave his opponent respect, bowing. Kiba chuckled, but returned the gesture. "I'll give you a fair offer, Kiba. I won't use my lethal skills, and I'll give you four free shots. In return, you put your all into this fight." Kiba seemed suspicious for a moment, then he remembered the last time he saw the guy fight. He had went blow for blow with Lee. Kiba nodded, wondering if it was worth it to do this fight.

"Ready?" The two nodded again. "Begin!"

Kiba immediately used his Quadruped Jutsu, doubling his speed, then combined it with the Tunneling Fang. Koen went flying from the force of it. That was one. The second one came before he could hit the ground, sending him into the wall. That was two. He stopped to let the boy get free, a strange move, some would think. He walked into the middle of the field again, waiting calmly. He showed damage, but it was frightening; he was grinning with killing intent, despite his word given that he wouldn't be lethal.

"He's going to break him," Rai said, Tenso nodding. "Kiba just doesn't have the kind of force that is required to actually put him down and keep him down."

Kiba growled as he heard that comment. He swallowed something, then shouted, "Come on, Akamaru!" He tossed up a round, black orb, and the dog downed it in one go. He turned red, and the next moment, there were two Kibas. The babble about such a controversial strategy was lost on Koen. He was lost in the thrill of what could be coming next. The two combined their powers to use the Fang Over Fang Jutsu. They struck from opposing sides, one knocking him into the air, the next slamming him back down.

"And that makes four," he said, picking himself up and wiping the blood from his mouth. He quickly signed his Mass Compression, and as the two came in for an attempt at a repeat performance, he caught them both mid-spin, slamming one to the ground and throwing the other across the battlefield. He signed quickly. _"Forbidden Fire Style: Infernal Serpent Jutsu!"_ He let out a feral roar, and from his mouth, burning chakra shot at the flying Kiba, forming a serpent that engulfed him and exploded.

The one that flew reverted into Akamaru, leaving the one with his arm still in Koen's crushing grip the real Kiba. He rotated his neck, the tendons popping. Kiba tried to bite the hand to get free, but the grip just tightened to the point that an audible crack came through the arena, before the dog boy cried out. Then Kiba was thrown like Akamaru, but higher. As he began his descent, the brawler was waiting, an arm already cocked back. Neji and Hinata both activated their Byakugan, staring in disbelief.

"Let me guess," Shiden said, coming up to Neji. "He's using the First Gate."

Neji was unnerved by the subtle smirk on this mystery boy's face. "No...he's using _two._"

Gai, Kakashi, and Lee all stared as Koen began making a spectacle of Kiba, pinballing him with powerful blows, each one causing a cracking sound in the dog-boy's body. After the first haymaker was a heavy uppercut, making him spin, but slowing his ascent. As he dropped, the next blow was a spinning kick that looked like it was stolen from the Leaf Whirlwind, but it was just one, and right to the ribs. Kiba gasped, and Koen started using smaller blows for a moment, jabbing at joints and pressure points like a Hyuuga. Then, he reared back that brutal right fist, and slammed it into the dog-boy's gut. The dog flew and bounced, no time to catch the breath that had been brutally ripped from his lungs, but Koen was there before he hit the ground a second time, a backhand powered by chakra straight to the face sending him up again. The Chosen's eyes weren't even feral, but there was a sadistic smirk on his lips. He chased the dog into the air this time, pounding him with both fists to the spine.

Finally, it was time to end the fight. He waited for Kiba to come in for landing, and caught him by the face. With a casual fling, the boy was implanted into the wall, just like Koen had been. Unlike Kiba, Koen didn't let his opponent try to get up; the next move was a full-speed elbow right into the sternum.

Kiba let out a gasp that some might have mistaken for a death rattle, and fell into Koen's expecting arm. "You have skill, Kiba. But I have been killing men twice your age and strength since I was six."

"...This match is over. The winner is Koen!" Hayate called, as if he hadn't figured the match to be done with the moment Koen started pounding Kiba into dog food.

Tenso was by their side an instant later, again beginning his super-powered healing process. "Damn, Koen. You almost broke him in half. He'll need proper treatment on top of this."

"I didn't kill him, did I?" Koen countered, looking at the poor little puppy, who was limping over to his master. He sighed, and that amazing façade of peace and calm returned. "...I apologize to you and your master, Akamaru. I usually save that kind of power for other monsters." The dog let him pet him, then the two were put on a stretcher to be taken away. Hinata brought the medics some healing balm, and Kiba whispered something. The girl's eyes turned fearful, but the machine wasn't stopping for idle chatter.

"...The next battle is between Hinata Hyuuga...and Neji Hyuuga."

Koen hopped back up with Tenso, who insisted on examining his bone structure. As he activated his Byakugan, Neji snapped his head up to watch him, instead of the girl facing him.

When he looked back, he sneered. "I never thought I'd be facing you, _princess_ Hinata." The tone was so mocking that Tenso felt offended _for_ her.

She hesitated, then started speaking. "Brother Neji..."

"Eh? Siblings?!" Naruto gasped.

"They may both be from the Leaf's oldest and greatest bloodline, the Hyuugas...but they are not siblings."

"Then what are they?" Sakura asked.

"They're cousins," Tenso said, his Byakugan now focused on Neji. "Hinata is of the Main House, the primary family of the Hyuuga. Neji is a Branch House member. Basically, if the Hyuuga houses were a nation, Neji would be a second-class citizen.

"And are you a cousin of theirs, too?" Sakura asked, looking at his suddenly white eyes.

"No, I'm more like a something-times removed cousin; I got my eyes from good breeding and a great-something-times grandma. My cousins are my squad, literally. My mother's sister married Koen's uncle, my father's sister married Shiden and Raizen's first cousin."

Ino, who had been watching him silently since his fight, said, "So, your Village really was tight on family."

"No, just small," he answered, smiling gently at her. She gave a faint smile back.

"Hey, explain more, please," Sakura said, forcing Tenso to turn his attention back to her.

"Okay, well, I haven't actually met any Hyuuga besides those two, but I did study the clan intensively. Over the generations, there has always been bad blood between the Main and Branch Houses, primarily because only one child technically can carry the title of the Main House. The previous generation, Hinata's and Neji's fathers, were twins, but Hinata's father was born first."

"So, they hate each other then," Sakura said, looking down at them as Tenso did the same.

"Begin the match!" Hayate called, subsiding into coughs after.

"Before we begin the match," Neji said, "I'd like to say something, Hinata." She looked confused. "You don't make a good shinobi. Forfeit now!" The girl's eyes widened, and a shocked look crossed her face. "You are too kind. You wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others, never resisting. You have no confidence in yourself, and I always feel your sense of inferiority. That's why I thought it would be best if you remained a Genin..." His eyes narrowed. "But the Chuunin Exam can only be taken in a team of three. You couldn't turn down your teammates' request, and unwillingly entered. This is reality...am I wrong?"

She hesitated, biting her lip. Ren surfaced to watch this, and Ino could almost feel the difference when she looked at them. Tenso had a tiny smile even when his face was neutral. This...Ren character...his face was like Neji's, or like an ANBU mask, just a blank cover for the true roiling emotions beneath.

"N...No...I just...I wanted to...to change myself...do it, myself."

Neji's eyes narrowed further. "I thought so. You are just a spoiled brat of the Main House."

"Huh?" Hinata didn't seem to understand.

"People can't change themselves!" Hinata's eyes widened again. "Losers are losers. Their personality and strength _will not change._" Ren felt Naruto clenching his fists, though he wasn't sure how he knew it was Naruto; maybe his Byakugan was improving with use. Still, he was clenching his own; it was worse than the monster talk he had been put through, it was the "not good enough to lead the clan" talk he had endured. "Because people cannot change, differences are born...Expressions like Elite and Loser are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, personality...All people judge and are judged in these values. Based on these unchangeable factors, people discriminate and are discriminated against. And they suffer within their own means."

He drew a calm breath, though Ren could almost taste the deadly edge that would be coming with the next words. Hinata almost looked like she was going to cry. "Just like the fact that I am from the Branch House, and you are from the Main House cannot be changed. I have seen through many things with this Byakugan. So I know...you are just acting strong. Deep inside, you just want to run away from here."

"N-No...I really..." Hinata couldn't seem to get her voice to work.

"Byakugan?" Sakura asked, looking between who she thought was still Tenso and Kakashi.

"This eye technique you see," Ren said. "Mine is weak, but the true version is so powerful...that in terms of insight, it surpasses the Sharingan by a landslide."

The muscles around Neji's eyes became tight and tense, and the near-lavender color turned pure white. Hinata was in sudden shock, and her eyes seemed to be seeking an escape. "You can't fool my eyes," Neji said suddenly, jolting Hinata further. "Against my pressure just now...your eyes went to the upper left. This is a sign you are remembering your past experiences. Your painful past." Hinata brought a hand up to her mouth, as if to cover the expression of shock on it. "After, you looked to the lower right. This is a sign you're imagining physical and mental pain. Basically, you're thinking about yourself...and from all your experiences up to now...imagining that _you will lose!_" Hinata brought her arms up, as if each word were physically hurting her. "The action of putting your arms in front of your body...that shows that you are trying to create a wall between us, create distance from me...that you are trying to prevent me from figuring out how you are truly feeling." The normally pale girl was even paler, her eyes fighting panic. "Because everything I have said is totally right."

Ren's grip on the bar tightened even more; the metal was actually beginning to warp beneath his grip, and his eyes were beginning to get a strange, silvery lining, even with the Byakugan in effect. His pupils had slowly reappeared, becoming more and more slit-like.

"Furthermore," Neji continued, "Touching your lip is a defense mechanism to soften the nervousness and worrying. So, basically, haven't you already realized? You cannot change your-"

"YOU CAN!" Naruto's voice echoed over the arena, which had been deathly silent while Neji verbally tore the girl apart. "Stop deciding things about people! Idiot! Kick that bastard's ass, Hinata!" All eyes were on him now, except Ren, who was still focused on Neji. "Stand up for yourself! This is getting hard to watch!"

Ren's head snapped to the blonde idiot, and it was only Shiden's hand on his back that kept the boy from jumping past Sakura and ripping the Kyuubi host apart. "His words did their job even if they were stupid words," Shiden whispered in his ear, and both the Byakugan and the feral eyes faded, so Ren could watch the battle with his own eyes. The Byakugan wasn't his to use yet. Not the way it was meant to be.

Hinata's eyes were a bit wet, but her face was determined. "...So you won't forfeit," Neji said calmly. "I'm not responsible for what happens."

The muscles around the girl's eyes tensed up, and when she opened them, the Byakugan was active. She entered her stance. "I no longer want to run away! Brother Neji...we fight!"

"...Fine," he answered, his own Byakugan and stance identical, save his left hand was forward instead of his right.

"Like a mirror, but the reflection is more confident," Raizen said, clapping Ren on the back. "Watch closely, brother. See what you can learn from this." Rai had never called Ren or Tenso brother before; he had called Koen brother on several occasions, usually after a great accomplishment, and he called Shiden almost nothing but. Raizen had had trouble accepting the split-persona boy before, but now...they were all in the same boat. They were all brothers, orphans.

The two rushed at the same time, moving like a dance, dodging and striking at a lightning pace, twirling and striking again. Finally, Hinata struck Neji clean in the side. "She got him?!" Sakura gasped.

"Not deeply enough," Naruto said, squinting at the fight. "Use a fist, Hinata!"

"The Hyuuga clan's Gentle Fist style is much better than a mere fist, Naruto," Raizen said, watching in fascination. "While people like Koen, Lee, and Gai-Sensei use Taijutsu that is about external and structural destruction, as we saw in Koen's fight, the Hyuuga clan uses a type of Taijutsu that is specifically designed to damage the internal organs. Commonly named the 'Gentle Fist Style,' it is done by channeling chakra through your blows. This style of combat, combined with the Byakugan, can block off a person's chakra pathways and weaken them. In other words...They can kill a person much faster and much more efficiently."

Naruto stared in awe as they pressed their assaults on each other, Neji mostly deflecting her blows, and then Hinata took one miscalculated, bold step. She could have ended it there...were she fast enough, strong enough, determined enough. Instead, Neji deflected her blow with two fingers against her forearm, and his other palm drove right against her chest. The Leaf Genin watched in tension...and Hinata began coughing up blood. "So, this is it. The extent of the Main House's strength."

"Wh-what's going on? Her attacks have been landing perfectly!" Naruto exclaimed. Ren reactivated his Byakugan, staring in dismay.

"No...Neji's won," he said, voice soft, but full of hate. Hinata tried swinging with her other hand, but Neji was too fast; he swapped his grip to the new arm, and jabbed at it once, about halfway down. That closed the last point on that arm, as Ren saw with tear-welling eyes. Everyone else watched as Neji slowly slid her sleeve back, and revealed her arm, covered in red marks.

"No way...From the beginning..." She stared in as much dismay as Ren.

"Exactly. My eyes can even see the opening points."

"...What the hell?"

Ren didn't wait for anyone else. "The body has the chakra pathways, which surround the internal organs and allow chakra to travel through the body, but attached to these pathways are 361 points where the body can expel chakra. They are tiny, but opening and closing them can severely alter one's chakra flow. My own Spirit Fang style can be called the counterpoint to the Gentle Fist style; where their touch closes those points, mine rips them wide open, and makes them hemmorage chakra. However, I can't really see the points, so my technique is more like dissecting the pathways themselves, which is worse. My Byakugan...is nothing compared to that of even Hinata...let alone Neji."

Neji casually shoved her away, and she fell hard. "Hinata...this is the difference in talent that can never change...The difference that divides an elite from a loser. At the point you said 'I do not want to run,' you were setting yourself up for regret. You should be overcome with desperation right now." The defiant look on her face, however, was far from desperate. His eyes narrowed. "Forfeit!"

"I..." She slowly forced herself to her knees. "Don't go back...on my word..." Neji gave a start, and Naruto gasped as she managed to get to her feet. "That is also...my ninja way."

She looked up to Naruto, and a faint smile crossed her blood-stained lips. "I never knew Hinata was this incredible..."

"She's quite similar to you," Lee said.

"She was always watching you," Sakura said matter-of-factly. Naruto stared in awe.

Neji returned to his starting stance. "Come, then." She coughed up more blood, her whole body shuddering.

"You can do it, Hinata!" Naruto shouted.

Ren's hands were beginning to shake, but Rai had one wrist, and Koen had the other; they knew that at any moment, he was going to snap again, and this time, he would kill his opponent. This...this was what he hated, despised, the most. On one hand, Naruto was urging her to do her best, but he was also urging her to kill herself. On the other, Neji was actively inflicting pointless harm upon the poor girl, like killing her would let him prove some kind of sadistic point. Shiden had just stepped up to the railing, his eyes watching this travesty unfold.

Hinata charged forward, the dance of the two almost frightening to watch this time, because Hinata sounded like she wasn't breathing right, and Neji wasn't putting much effort into hitting her yet. Once again, she overextended, and this time, Neji's palm struck the base of her throat, making her recoil and hack up more blood.

The Jonin's fists tightened, and Koen felt something he had never associated with the leader: Simple, pure rage, with no attachment to another emotion or pain. Around his eyes, a sort of feather-like pattern was forming, though the skin itself didn't change. The eyes did, becoming the feral ones that even Asuma didn't see when the boy lost it...And then, slowly, they began changing from gold to red.

Hinata made one more valiant attempt...and Neji thrust his palm square against her chest, against her heart. With that, she fell. Koen and Rai clamped down harder on Ren, whose whole body began to shake, more of the steel-gray chakra beginning to push itself out of his hands, his eyes, every point in his body. They each made a sign, then jabbed the poor boy in the chest in the same way Neji had. The two seals had the combined effect of restraining the God chakra, as well as Ren's own.

"You don't understand anything," Neji spat at her. "From the beginning, your attacks have done nothing."

Hayate moved out to the field. "Continuing is impossible, and thus-"

Naruto shouted again. "Don't stop it!"

"What are you saying, you idiot?! She's at her limit, she's unconscious!" Sakura reprimanded.

Then, everyone had to stare again in shock, even Neji. Hinata was still trying to force her way back up, shaking the whole way. Once she was standing, clutching her chest with one hand, Neji couldn't hold his peace. "Why do you stand...?" Neji asked. "If you keep pushing yourself, you _will_ die."

"...It's not over," Hinata said, voice soft as ever.

"Acting tough is useless. You can barely stand, I can see that. From the time of your birth the responsibility of the Hyuuga Main House has been forced upon you...You have always hated yourself for your weakness...But people cannot change. That is destiny. There is no need to suffer anymore. Let it go!" It almost sounded like he was desperate for her to stop. Maybe he didn't really want to kill her.

"That's...not true, Brother Neji. Because, I can see it...it's not me, at all..." Neji's eyes widened. "The person lost and suffering within the destiny of the Main and Branch Houses...is you..."

The boy's eyes narrowed with hate. Blinded by it, he charged forward. "Neji! This match is over!" Hayate shouted desperately, but the boy didn't hear. He reared back, ready to deal the lethal blow...but suddenly, he was on his back, a hand wrapped tight around his throat and his arms pinned by a body. Shiden was now strangling the heir of the Branch House of the Hyuuga clan with one hand, the other covered in glowing electricity, two fingers extended.

"One touch," he said calmly, ignoring the struggling coming from the boy, "and your whole chakra system will be fried. This is one of the secret arts of my clan, the Voltic Spear. Normally, it's used at long range so it has time to grow and penetrate, but at close range, it just unleashes all the force into the body. At that range, it would hit me too, but..." He smirked, opening those crimson eyes. "With the Chakra God sealed inside of me, I will survive and heal. You, however, will be forever a caged bird, with every...last...feather...plucked. You will never hope to fly free. Never defy those greater than you again." There was now fear in Neji's eyes, the Byakugan gone. Hinata fell, coughing up more blood, but Neji and Shiden were in their own little world.

"...But I wouldn't do that." The electricity faded, and the pressure on the young genius's throat lifted. "For I had the weight of not one, but two Main Houses upon my shoulders. As first-born, even though I took my father's surname when the time came, I also had to hold the position I desperately wanted to give my brother. He is so like you it hurts me to even want to hurt you...but if you _ever_ do that to a comrade again, I _will_ kill you, Neji Hyuuga, and I'll be sure to devour your eyes, first." The red eyes suddenly had a single comma apiece in them, and the smirk was a hundred times more intimidating. Then he blinked, and all that was left was the normal golden color. He released Neji, and turned to see Ren already trying to work his technique. Just a bit of chakra on the tips of his fingers, slowly working at opening the pathways, at healing the internal damage.

Neji slowly rose, staring at the boy with the Jonin jacket. What _was_ he? Naruto was standing by, watching over the girl while Ren did his best to help. Then, he pulled away, and the medical-nin came to take her away for proper treatment. Even after the threat, however, Neji had something to say to Naruto. "Hey, the loser over there. I'd like to tell you two things." Naruto snapped his head around to see the Hyuuga. "If you're a shinobi, then cut out the pathetic cheering of others...and one more. In the end, a loser is a loser. They cannot change!"

"You wanna test me?" Naruto asked, voice amazingly calm. Neji chuckled, and the knucklehead tried to charge. Lee jumped in front of him, however, holding him back.

"Naruto, I understand your feelings so much that it hurts. But the fighting should occur in the matches. Whether a loser can defeat the elite through the power of hard work. That's something I look forward to in the main test...though his opponent might be me." Lee glanced back with a grin. "But even if it's you, Naruto, there will be no hard feelings."

"Damn...Alright." Hinata was stable, but she still needed more help than Ren could give. Naruto noticed the blood on the floor, and placed his palm into it. He made a fist, and pointed it at Neji. "I promise...You...are going down!"

Shiden looked up at the Sand shinobi, and noticed that the red-headed one was watching the blood with a psychotic look of fascination, almost childlike wonder if it weren't so disturbing.

"_**Only four fighters left...And from the way this tournament has been going, I would almost be surprised if someone didn't die."**_

'_Shut up...'_ But Shiden had no heart to deny the logic of that assumption. There was murder in those green, soulless eyes. Shiden recognized the monster within all too well. Without his God's choice when he was young, he was sure that was what he would have looked like, too.


	9. Break

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 2: The Chuunin Exams; Chapter 09: Humanity

The roster was down to four left, two fights to go. Gaara of the Sand, Dosu of the Sound, and Lee and Choji of the Leaf. Raizen and Ren had been thoroughly sickened of combat for the day; between Tenso nearly killing Temari, Koen methodically destroying Kiba, and the sickening fight between Hyuuga, they were disgusted. Killing for them was quick, clean. Fighting was another matter entirely. It wasn't something that Ren or Tenso liked to see, and Raizen was thoroughly disheartened by the huge gaps in power between some of the shinobi that had made it this far. Many had gotten in on sheer luck or strong teammates. This wasn't a proper tournament, but a massacre.

Koen and Shiden, however, were watching with an air of anticipation. Koen loved fighting more than killing, but he was amazing at both. He didn't care who the target was, how strong; if he had to, he would fight until he died. Shiden had never been above killing, but he was fairly weak in actual combat. Since he had proven himself to Asuma, he had been trying to remedy that. It was going, but not great. That little display against Neji had taken quite a bit of his strength, but even more restraint; the Garuda saw no logic in the fight, no reasoning for such savagery. It saw that display as an excuse to reciprocate. Neji was lucky he could still function perfectly.

As Lee and Gaara were called for their match, Shiden pulled his trio into a huddle. "...I finally understand something, you guys." All three looked at him in confusion. "...Our parents, our clans, our whole Village...If you listened to the Hokage, he explained it best; shinobi are tools of war. We were literally instruments of death from the time we turned six. Unlike the other Villages, we were forced to follow almost excessively strict rules, worship, and ritual. None of these guys, none of them but maybe Gaara, know what we went through. We...we can't interact in regular society, even regular ninja society, without plenty of negative feedback from our instincts. Koen, what you did probably destroyed Kiba's confidence as a person and a ninja." Koen had rarely felt shame, but this was one of those times.

"What I did to Neji...I'm sure I'll be reprimanded for it. The other Jonin were going to jump in, I saw them preparing to act, but I did as I always did, I neutralized the threat. If he didn't remind me so much of you, Rai, the kind of neglect and suffering his clan put him through...I might have destroyed another shinobi, a comrade." Raizen rarely held actual pity for his brother, but he had restrained Ren for the exact same reason; Neji reminded Rai so much of himself that it hurt to look over at the boy, who was now warily watching Shiden, something akin to fear in those powerful eyes of his.

"So, you see, guys? We...we really are monsters."

Raizen glanced at his brother, eyebrow raised. "So, what? Do we have to start behaving like those guys with, uh...whatchamacallit...cocksuckers? No...Concubines? No..."

"Consciences?"

"That!" Koen and Ren chuckled at the two; Rai often made jokes like that to lighten the annoyingly bad news his brother threw at them. Usually it was something about them only getting an excellent and not a perfect on a practice mission. "That's what you're saying, right? We have to behave like we have discretion, but call it morals like everyone else."

"Not in so many words that makes it sound like we're just fakes, but yeah."

The group glanced over to the fight, where Lee had just jumped back onto the hand. He pulled off his leg warmers, and removed training weights. "I had a set like those," Koen said with a grin. "When I was five." Then the boy dropped the weights, and they were revealed to be much heavier than initial size let on. "Like I said, I had a set like that."

"What were you on when we left last time?" Ren asked, looking back and trying to make small talk.

"Oh, about five hundred pounds on my arms. I preferred the weight there."

Shiden kept an eye on the match from that point on.

"So, what exactly does this mean about us? Should I go visit Kiba in the hospital? Apologize for using him like a meaty punching bag?"

"I think so. Just don't phrase it like that, or he might feel terrible. You did hold back enough to not actually destroy anything important, but you made him helpless. You humiliated him." Ren looked at Shiden as he spoke, thinking. "...Should I apologize to Temari, then? I almost killed her for a second there."

"Yes," Shiden replied, still watching as Lee turned up the pressure and unleashed the Primary Lotus and the First Gate, then Gaara revealed one of his tricks. "She is a proud woman. She will likely appreciate the gesture, but just in case, I'll go talk with her first. Soften the road for you, if I can."

Ren couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "You. Soften the road. For him. That road is made of iron that's got a thick layer of permafrost on it. Good luck cracking that, brother."

For the first time in a while, a thin bit of pink spread from the narrow cut across the bridge of Shiden's nose, a reminder from his brother at age six that he was a shinobi, too. It had always intensified his blush, and whenever he really pushed himself, it looked like he was blushing for a long time afterwards. "I'll let the suggestion in your tone drop this time, brother. I don't seek a relationship with someone or something hazardous to my health."

Koen coughed something into his hand, a name that none of the four could forget, and they chuckled amongst themselves for a moment until the pressure coming off of Lee caused them to turn their heads. The green-jumpsuited boy was turning red in his skin, a look of severe concentration on his visage. "Is that the Third or Fourth Gate, Ren?" Ren's eyes turned white again, but before he could get a lock, the boy was moving faster than Koen had been, sending the Sand shinobi bouncing like a pinball even more than Kiba had been. "Never mind, found it out on my own. Thanks for trying, though."

Ren's eyes seemed to be watering a bit, and he closed and rubbed them, but he didn't stop using the Byakugan this time. "...There's no chakra coming from that," Ren pointed at the mass Lee was knocking around. "He's already done the swap. When Lee is burned out from beating up the dummy, he's going to suffer from the fatigue of wasting that much chakra through his body, then Gaara will break him."

"Will you be able to help him?" Koen seemed concerned for his other "friend," a term he decided to use instead of "not-targets." His adopted father had used that phrase piece to define the Village in general, not just friends or family.

"I'll do my best. I doubt he's going to be going on missions for a while, regardless." Ren and Tenso had always had some pity and/or empathy for others, and he liked being able to disappear in crowds. The others always stood out for one reason or another.

It wasn't much longer before Ren's prediction came true, and Lee's scream as his arm and leg were crushed was almost sickening. Gai was the first person there to help, with Ren an instant behind, his hands already glowing with medical-converted chakra. His white eyes scanned over the wounds, and Gai was silent while he did.

"...This is bad, sir," Ren announced, pulling his hands away. "The damage from his Gate usage is relatively easy to repair, it's just ripped muscle; but his arm and leg...the bones inside were damaged, worse so because of the Gates. Even if he recovers, the damage is so intense...I'm not sure he'll ever be able to live as a shinobi again." Many people gasped in shock or fear. "But, I could be wrong. I hope I am. I've seen actual medicine heal just as much as medical jutsu, more so in some cases." His quick speech pattern and the look on his face seemed to say that he knew better than to believe that Lee would recover, however.

Shiden looked at Gaara, the other looking back with a mixture of defiance, hatred, and insane glee. The glee died when Shiden turned his attention to the Jonin standing with Kankuro. "That was an interesting fight," he called across.

"Did you see it well enough with your back to it?" The man replied.

"Well enough to know the power of a Tailed Beast when I see it," Shiden suddenly said, standing back-to-back with the Sand Jonin, who only turned his head to the side to see the boy. "And I know that Shukaku likes washing his prey in sand instead of water." The man's visible eye narrowed.

"Is this an accusation? If so, I will gladly discuss it with your Hokage."

"It is no such thing. No, this is just a polite request to keep him in check, whether he is Jinchuuriki or not. He will probably face one of my squad in the next round, and they don't take kindly to other monsters running without leashes." He disappeared again, reappearing between his brother and best friend.

Once the medics took Lee away, Ren returned to the top as well, looking miserable. "I am surprised...the damage from the Gates was bad, but those bones didn't just snap in one place, they were compound fractures. The bones will be lucky to be straight when they are set and take forever to fuse back together, and even then, they will always be weak at those points. One bad jump or land, and the leg would be taken out again, one hard punch and his hand or arm is disabled..."

"He'll recover," Koen said firmly, glaring across at the Sand ninjas. "And he'll get even stronger. His will to protect this Village is too strong for it to end here."

"Koen," Ren's voice was trying for patient, almost patronizing. "There's just no medicine-"

"No medicine that _you_ know, Ren," Koen snapped, looking down at the other boy. Ren tried not to shrink back, ball his fists, or even flinch. "And you know jack shit compared to a lot of medics we've met out in the world. Maybe-"

"Maybe what, Koen?" Ren snapped back, his fists balled for sure now. "Maybe you'll go find them all, convince them to come here and help him? Good luck! Half of them were being targeted when we met them, and the other half were too good to be bothered with anything! In our line of work, we met a lot of sinners, not saints."

"He's got a point," Shiden said, watching as Dosu and Choji walked onto the field. "Most of the doctors and medic-nin we met were complete assholes. And we have ourselves to worry about, too. Would you really waste your time that could be spent training running across the countries, trying to find anyone willing to help? If you say yes, I'll be right with you, but so will they." As the other two began protesting, he continued, "This is because I am going to be training with each of you, individually. You all passed, even if yours was a quitting bitch, Rai, and now you have competition worthy of your devotion to your skills. However, this exam has been about the way you think, the way you work, from the beginning. Even fighting has its strategic situations. The Nara boy showed what being five steps ahead does for you. Naruto's planning wasn't half-bad. Even Ren showed a strategic stroke in summoning Nii and using him as a distraction. San might have been a better choice, but only to move you into position faster."

"Hang on; if you're teaching us, how are we going to earn money?"

"I've got a few ways available to me as a Jonin."

"...Fine, if you are going to be training us, I'll stay. The moment this tournament is done, however, if there hasn't been a way to fix him discussed and found likely, I'm going out to find whoever I can who will be willing to help."

"Again, we'll all come with you when that time comes. This is about helping a comrade."

The conversation was shorter this time, as Choji was taken out by Dosu much faster than they had predicted.

"You're really going to teach us?" Rai asked as the other two hopped down, waiting with the other finalists to hear what the Hokage had to say.

"Yep. I'm going to be working with you the most, brother. My shadow is smaller here. You just need to work hard to step out from it, and I'll push you to that point." Then the Genin was gone, leaving Shiden to smile a bit at his trio of misfits. He was the lead misfit, but he wouldn't let anyone stop them from rising to the top. They had the gods on their side, after all.

After the explanations of the third round, how it was mostly a performance for their potential employers, and of the random selection, each ninja came up to take their pick. Neji drew a 1, Naruto the 2. Gaara drew the 3. Shikamaru drew the 5, Koen the 6; neither looked happy with that pairing. Tenso drew the 7, Kankuro the 8. Raizen drew 9, Dosu 10, and Shino drew the 11; Whoever won from Rai and Dosu would go on to fight Shino. That left Sasuke to get the 4, and face Gaara.

"Excellent!" The Hokage announced when all was said and done. "Now, you have one month to practice, train, and grow stronger. I want to see all of you in your peak physical conditions when you enter that stadium in a month! Dismissed!"

The long walk out of the "Forest of Death" was less than interesting. When they emerged, the three Chuunin potentials turned to their leader. "So, how are you going to go about this, O wise leader?" Ren asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up," Shiden replied, "and I'll tell you. You'll get the early shift, five to eight. After a quick breakfast, I'll be training with Koen from eight to eleven. An hour of break for lunch, and then Rai and I will train until five, so he can go home and get dinner started. Then, I'll take half an hour each to spar with you and Koen. After dinner, we relax and sleep. Then, next day, we all do it again."

"But even with that sparring on the end, Rai gets an extra hour and a half more than either of us," Koen pointed out. "That's not exactly fair, man."

"That's perfectly fair, because you guys will be training while I'm not with you, too. Plus, there will be times when I will have hired you off for odd jobs around the Village, most likely to make extra money for us. In those times, those not on the job will get extra time with the torture expert."

"...I don't feel so happy about that now," Ren said, glaring at Koen.

"Oh, like it's my fault?" he countered.

"I'm sure he wouldn't have tacked on that extra time if you hadn't said anything."

"And I'm sure you're a short shit who needs the extra training to handle me in the finals."

"Say that again, you're a dead man."

"Keep arguing, you're both dead men," Shiden ended the argument. "You all need work. Even I need work, but that's why I'm doing this. I will improve as a teacher and a fighter."

"So, when do we start?"

"Tomorrow. Tonight, we eat and eat and eat. All on me."

Koen smirked. "I'm going to devour your wallet, brother."

Ren chuckled maliciously, cracking his knuckles and drawing a kunai to begin cleaning his nails. "As am I, brother."

Rai licked his fangs, his eyes becoming those of a predator. "Your wallet's contents are forfeited, brother. And we will feast well tonight."

Shiden grinned back at his team. "Let's go, before I change my mind." The group jumped through the trees and through the open Gate, Tenso leading the way towards the same barbecue place he had enjoyed with Ino on his first day there.

He was a little pleased and a little disappointed to see Ino there, along with her team and Asuma-Sensei. Naruto and Sakura had been roped into eating with them too, though judging by the pleased looks on their faces, they were glad to have the distraction.

"Hey, it's the new Jonin and his squad!" Asuma said in a cheerful, carrying voice. As if this was all the indicator that was needed, the hostess set them across from the packed booth. Tenso smiled at Ino, who tried to smile back, but something was stopping her. He stopped trying the moment she stopped looking. Shiden and Koen, on the other hand, were quite amiable.

"It's good to see you again, Asuma. We didn't get to talk much at the preliminaries."

"Or before that," The elder countered. "I figured you would be interested in training with me, at least, but you kept turning me down."

"Sorry, I was working with my team. I wasn't sure what kind of challenges would be thrown at them, after all."

"That's right, the Hallowed Grounds opted out of the Alliance and the Chuunin Exams from the beginning."

"So, you knew about this Hallowed Grounds place, Asuma-Sensei?" Choji asked, mouth half-full as always.

"Kind of. They made peace treaties with the five major Villages, but refused to join the Alliance or put their ninja through the Chuunin Exam. They changed that a few years back, though, and started sending one or two groups a year. They almost always passed, but they weren't counted as Chuunin until they completed their Village's own test, something about the gods that they believed in."

"Not just believed in," Koen replied. "The Gods were real. They were Chakra beasts with such incredible power and wisdom that they were worshipped by the progenitors of our Village's five primary clans. They have been with us ever since, with every couple of generations finding someone to be the Chosen Vessels. However, one God was lost a few generations ago, while the other four are sitting across from you."

Shiden kicked his friend beneath the table as Rai smacked the back of his head, but the damage was done. "Hold on," Ino said, and Tenso tried to hide himself behind his squad leader. "So, all four of you have monsters inside of you? Monsters that were worshipped as gods in your homeland?" Shiden nodded. "...That's actually pretty frightening to think about."

"We try not to," Rai said simply. Before the conversation could continue, the waitress came to get their orders. The older three were having tea, but Tenso was sticking with water. He had too much nervous energy as it was.

"What do you mean, you try not to?" Ino pressed once the server was gone. "It doesn't sound like it would be something easy to ignore."

"See, that's what most people think," Shiden answered. "We're just like you guys, we're just gifted with an extra reserve of chakra and a helpful voice in our heads. Tenso has two voices, thanks to the split personality disorder. Not so easy to ignore."

The boy almost hung his head in shame, but defied that part of him. He wouldn't withdraw just because he was embarrassed. He would get over himself. "Yeah, I have two human minds stuck with a metal hydra god that has ten heads. I have plenty more than two voices up there, Shiden." The other three chuckled, while the opposing group just stared a bit.

"You guys talk like such an ordeal isn't something painful. Weren't you treated differently back home?" Asuma asked.

"Not exactly," Shiden answered again. "We're not like Jinchuuriki, the people with Tailed Beasts sealed inside of them. You people fear your Chakra Beasts, and so, make them feel unloved and hated. Turn them into outcasts, into real monsters. Us...To paraphrase what I said during our fight, Asuma, our clans made us what we are. They elevated us to the status of God Hosts." He lost the smile for a moment. "Sure, they trained us to be weapons of death, deprived us of a normal life, even for a Village like that, so we could focus on such duties, but they didn't restrict us once we became Chuunin. That was our mark of adulthood, so to speak. Tenso was the only one who had yet to pass, because the Exam is a survival fight against the God of your clan. The members of the Kuga clan were always late bloomers due to this, since it is difficult to stand against a ten-headed intelligent being and come out without some new bruises."

"And as a Jonin, that means?" Asuma continued, while Koen and Choji seemed to be sizing one another up.

"That means that I fought all four Gods and survived, as well as my final test of completing an A-Rank mission while leading my squad."

"So that's what the eye was about?"

"Yup," Shiden answered, just in time; the food for both tables had arrived, and the two possibly distant cousins had silently agreed to an eating challenge. The moment the food was served up, Koen and Choji began eating at the speed of sound, Naruto jumping in a moment later.

"I won't lose in eating contests, either!" The blonde idiot shouted, trying to keep up with the two. Choji had an amazing reserve tank, and Koen's metabolism gave him a similar backup, so Naruto was destined to fail, all his hard work just making him have an upset stomach. Still Koen and Choji ate, making both Shiden and Asuma look at each other with amused sadness; both knew their wallets would suffer heavily on this day.

Still, Shiden was happy; he and his squad were being treated as humans, not as monsters.

Tenso tried to catch Ino's eye, and for a moment, he succeeded. She smiled back when he did, but she didn't seem as eager to talk now that both squads were there. Sakura only compounded the issue, dropping coy hints that maybe Ino should forget about Sasuke and hook up with someone else. Ino snapped and called Sakura Billboard Brow, and Sakura called Ino a pig. That was when Tenso had to step out; he'd found the person who, no matter how inadvertently, had destroyed some of Ino's personal confidence. No matter how much a friend they were, no one needed constant teasing, no matter what the family's symbol was. Sure, Tenso had little room to talk, his family symbol being a hydra, and he suffered from split personality disorder, but that wasn't the same as teasing someone for being a boar-or pig-all the time.

In the end, Koen won the contest, but Choji demanded a rematch for a few days later. With Koen's new dieting plan that Shiden had laid out, it was a guarantee; he needed more fat layers to make sure he could use Compression more than once before he started starving.

Neither Asuma nor Shiden made it home that night, having to wash dishes to pay off the overabundance of food their squads had eaten.

Such is the life of Jonin with hungry students.


	10. Memories Part 1

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 10: Training and Reminiscence, Part 1

Shiden was almost dead to the world when he walked through the door into his little hovel shared with three other ninjas. It was four in the morning, and he had gotten no sleep at all. One cup of his brother's "God Coffee" and one of Ren's specialized food pills later, he was good to go and ready to begin. He and Tenso set off for their training first, as he had outlined in the plan.

"So, what are you going to be teaching me, sensei?" The cheerful boy asked as soon as they were in the training field, feeling just like he had his first day on the squad; that day, he had been happy to be picked at all, and that hadn't changed much.

"Drop the sensei shit, brother. You're a Chosen, one of the Four Pillars of the Hallowed Grounds." The boy pulled off his Leaf headband, setting it carefully aside. In its place came the headband of the Hallowed Grounds, its symbol a five-pointed ninja star. Tenso mimicked the gesture, his eyes losing the natural red color and turning white as the muscles around them tensed up.

"Very well, brother. What am I going to be learning?"

"You've already begun. We're going to train your Byakugan. I want you to start practicing what you saw in the fight between Neji and Hinata Hyuuga."

The boy paled enough that he might have passed for a real Hyuuga. "But, Shiden...I don't know how to change the shape of my chakra like that. I know how to make blades, but just pushing it out to block a point is difficult."

Shiden raised an eyebrow, then jabbed out, catching the boy in the shoulder and making him gasp in pain. A moment later, he felt the spot begin to deaden and numb. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over your bitching. Now, what did you feel in that moment?"

"I felt pain, you asshole! What did you expect me to feel?!" Another jab, this one to the leg just above the knee. "Ow! The hell?!"

"You're not focusing. I know you didn't get it quite as bad as Ren did, but try to remember the training. Look past the pain. Ignore it, study what has been done, and find a way to replicate it. It's just like camping with the folks."

"I hated camping," Tenso muttered, but he was ready this time. When the blow came, right to the first Gate, he felt the way the chakra was shaped, how it flowed from Shiden and to himself. "...Again," The boy said, gasping as the pain repeated, right against his heart. He couldn't hold back the gasp, and he knew Shiden had just decided he was going to take it to Hallowed Ground extremes. "...Again," The boy repeated, more ready this time. The blow still landed, and this time he began coughing up blood. Still, he didn't falter, he didn't flinch. Instead, the metallic markings around his eyes returned, his Byakugan gaining a slash of pupil. The metal-colored chakra slowly poured out around his body, and he could feel the pain going away, the chakra paths opening.

"Now that I suspect you have the method down, you're going to have an extra challenge." Shiden signed quickly, and several clones appeared. "I learned a trick from Rai, who learned it from Naruto, of all places. Shadow Clones."

Tenso's eyes roamed the clones. "...They all look like real people. If I didn't know you preferred distance fighting, I'd suspect you were the one up front."

"I might be," a voice behind the hydra host said, taunting. Tenso spun, only to get a palm to his forehead. "Now, we try this right. You will practice on the fakes until you can do it and not cause 'accidental' hemorrhages. The faster you master this, the faster we move to the next bit of training."

Tenso stretched out a bit, like a cat ready to pounce. "Okay, I'll do it." The aura left him, but the markings around his eyes did not. With the muscles tensed, it looked quite strange, like he had transplanted metal eyes in place of his own. The first clone walked onto the field, and Tenso took focus on him, despite his ears hearing more footsteps. He thought they were simply getting into a circle.

"Go!" Shiden called, and the hydra's Chosen rushed forward, only to feel a burning pain in his right bicep; losing his focus on the clone, he looked down and saw a kunai embedded in his arm. "This is Hallowed Grounds training!" Shiden shouted, confirming Tenso's fears. "Either come prepared or be ready to bleed!"

Tenso dropped the grin, dropped the happy attitude. He was no longer ready to play around; he was ready to kill.

"I think part of your problem is that you force yourself to focus on one person, one thing. Close your eyes, let the vision encompass you. See everything in your own pace, acknowledge your surroundings. Then, focus on your target, but not to the point of blinding yourself to everything else." Tenso was reluctant to do so, especially since he hadn't removed the kunai yet, but he did as commanded. His other senses sharpened, as always, but something was happening to his vision; he was seeing what he was sensing!

He both saw and heard the footsteps around him, counted four clones behind him, the first one still ahead. Five in this fight. He felt the wind blowing at odd angles, and saw the light trees around him; thin enough to allow wind to pass through, but thick and tall enough to use for verticality. He could hear the birds in the trees, and saw them. It wasn't a huge dome, but he was seeing everything within the training ground, a good thirty meters.

Shiden saw the stance lighten up, one hand close and the other extended at the clone. "Are you ready?" he asked, and Tenso nodded. "Go!" He shouted, as his clones jumped for a synchronized attack. Spinning on one heel, the boy swung out with his other leg, knocking one clone into the path of the others. A light -poof!- told him that the clone had vanished. Tenso didn't open his eyes yet; he was still getting used to being able to see so much with them closed, he was sure it would be overpowering at first once he opened them.

The next clone came from above, Tenso ducking under the swing and jabbing his teacher in the stomach, shoulder, and thigh. The clone exploded again, but Shiden said, "That was correct! I felt what the clone felt, and that seemed right. I didn't feel chakra spilling out like blood from a gouge wound, anyway." Tenso smiled a bit, but the other clones stopped being so gentle. They began acting in unison against the boy, who now had to dodge more than strike. Finally, he bit his thumb, and began signing quickly, only to feel a sudden bolt of lightning surge down his back. "I said no other techniques. Summoning is definitely a technique."

Tenso bit his lip this time, slowly opening his eyes. He had expected the sudden sensory input to be painful, and he wasn't wrong. Worse still, to take his mind off the pain he did the same thing as always, he focused on one single being. In this case, it was a bird in an egg. The pulse of life was slow but sure within.

The voice of his teacher was now faint when he shouted "Go!" The pain that immediately followed was just as intense as ever, and it was enough to rip Tenso's focus back to his immediate surroundings.

"Okay, that's three hits. Swap to Ren."

"No, I can do this!" Tenso protested. "I just need to get my head on right. All this information is a lot to process. I need a way to process it faster."

"Then use Ren. Let him be your radar. You focus on what you can sense in your immediate vicinity, and let Ren observe everything farther out. When you swap control, swap sight positions. Just keep doing that until you can take the information all by yourself."

Shiden's plan was incredibly simple in theory, but the two had only tried sharing senses a few times; usually with overpowering situations like this. "I'll try." The next time he opened his eyes, he could feel Ren in there with him. Immediately, the information was less for the boy; less to intake, and less painful.

"_He's in the trees, just beyond the training ground. He's building up a Weather Ball."_

'_Probably for training Rai or Koen. We have proven that we can break genjutsu of master class.'_

"Go!" Shiden's voice echoed across the field, and Tenso could triangulate it to exactly where Ren had said, though with Shiden, that could also be a trick. He ducked three kunai thrown in perfect unison, catching them as they collided. With a blade in each hand and one in his mouth, he was much more dangerous, cutting through the clones with the speed of practicing against the real Shiden before every mission. "Another penalty," his voice called from a different location. "You were supposed to use Gentle Fist to bring them down."

"I would have, if this were a fair fight! Just me and you, one on one! I'll even keep my eyes open and _not_ use Ren!"

"And what good is that?" Shiden asked, appearing in front of the boy again. "I may be fast, but once you know what you're looking for, once you've locked on once, you can just lock on again."

"Then...Fight me with clones. But I want to fight you, personally." When Shiden hesitated, the youngest pressed, "How are you going to improve yourself physically if you won't get in the mud with your opponent?"

Shiden sighed. "Fine, I'll take you on with clones. But if I notice you focusing on one, I'll revoke the no jutsu rule and drop five hurricanes on your head."

Once back in position, Tenso opened his eyes, letting the information flood him, become a part of him. He was the six Shidens standing around him, the birds in the trees and in their eggs, the squirrels darting around after nuts. He was the snake coiled at the trunk of a tree, watching with unblinking eyes. He blinked away the tears, and took a slow breath. The world was as normal, but he could see in all directions. The living things in the world looked different, all of them glowing flames with narrow tubes making the chakra networks. All of the Shidens had chakra flowing up to their eyes, where Tenso could see the color red, and a single comma.

"Dude...you _ate_ the spare?"

"What else was I going to do with it, once I delivered the main one?"

"But...you _ate it_?!"

"I once bit a major chunk of muscle from your left shoulder, too. That's why I could copy the jab so well, because I was using your brand of chakra." Tenso didn't know whether to be honored or annoyed at the moment, as well as impressed or nauseous at the thought of eating human flesh.

He was spared further contemplation by all six Shidens moving in unison, rushing in with a kunai in the right hand, the other glowing with chakra. However, Shiden made the mistake of staggering the arrivals; the first two got their blades grabbed and stabbed into their sides, Tenso's empty palms striking right at the chakra core, behind the stomach but before the spine. Both disappeared, which led into the next move, a flip over the one coming from behind, his hands raining strikes down the back as he landed. The puff of smoke temporarily blinded the fourth attacker, who got eight palms right in the chest. The last two had stopped just outside Tenso's range of reach, but he didn't let defense be his only game; he rushed between them both, throwing out his chakra in threads, like Rai had taught him at age 9. The two were pulled into his range and then used to pull him back, his feet landing on a face apiece as he struck the channels leading from the core this time. One disappeared, the other fell with a shoe on his face, a light crunch saying that his nose may have been broken from the landing.

Tenso stepped off of Shiden's face, helped him to his feet, and fixed it with a quick tweak and a good bit of healing chakra. "Okay," Shiden said as soon as his eyes stopped watering. "Let's do that again. Faster, this time." Tenso returned to his position as Shiden drew on the Garuda's chakra and created more clones. The hydra host's eyes were watering, so he knew that use was draining on him, but his vision while active was improving.

This time, Shiden's clones started acting individually, but in tandem; two threw one at the boy, only for it to get kicked up and jabbed throughout the body; Tenso still couldn't see the points themselves.

The younger ninja rushed for the real one, jabbing at the others as he passed them. Then he did the exact same thing he did to Temari, and drove his hand through the leader's gut. He was shocked as the body disappeared, and a blade pressed against the small of his back. "Wow, they really are like the real deal, aren't they?" Shiden said.

"...Yes," Tenso grumbled. "Which one were you?"

"The second one."

And so practice continued for a while, until the two were just exhausted. They still had an hour to go, but they didn't want to draw on the full reserves of the Gods; they knew their limits quite well by now.

"...That seems to be your trademark move," Shiden commented, rubbing his stomach. "You hit me once with it when we were kids, but I'm crazy enough to take other damage to avoid lethal amounts."

"That was when you asked me to join the squad." Both grinned to themselves, getting lost in the equally painful and equally opportunistic memory.

"_Hey, kid!" Shiden, age 9, called across the market. Everyone cleared the way; Shiden wasn't known for being respectful when he was on orders from the Council of Clans. Tenso was exposed, and he immediately ran for the back-alleys. Shiden pursued, an aura of electricity and wind beginning to form around him. "Don't run! I just have a question for you!"_

"_Go away!" Tenso shouted, knocking over a full barrel of water. The wind seemed to siphon it up and into his aura, making Tenso more frightened. Finally, there was nowhere left to run. Shiden walked closer, the aura fading._

"_You done running, shrimp?" The golden-eyed boy asked._

"_I don't want to fight you! Leave me alone!" Tenso was beyond reason; this was the seventeenth time in as many days that he had been accosted, though he had long since stopped listening to the words spoken by the assailants._

"_Just like I was told, a whining little kid." Tenso froze, staring at the taller boy. "A little freak not worthy of the power of the hydra, let alone the offer I have for him."_

"_I don't want anything from anyone!" He shouted. "And I'm not little!"_

_Shiden blinked, eyes narrowing and lips cracking in a dark smirk. "Oh, you're little, all right. You're just a small punk that got lucky and somehow earned the god's favor. Maybe it wasn't even you, was it? Maybe it was that other voice in your head."_

_Ren roared as he came into control, biting his thumb and signing, clapping his hand to the wall an instant later. Ichi, the one-headed hydra, appeared through the wall, snapping at Shiden. "Leave the young master alone!" It hissed._

"_...I wasn't talking to you," Shiden said in a deadly calm voice, smacking the beast with one hand. An electrical surge shot through it, and it fell, dazed._

_Ren roared again, and rushed the unknowing Arashi heir. Before he could block the blow, there was a steely-colored arm covered in Shiden's blood, extended through the boy's back. "Don't hurt my friends!" He shouted in the same voice._

_Shiden smirked, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. "...You are exactly what I need," he said, breathing slowly._

"_I hate you," Rem growled, his eyes like a predator's._

"_And I hope you never stop," Shiden replied, his own eyes following suit. The smaller boy pulled his arm free, staring in shock; first at the eyes of the fellow host, then at the blood running down his arm._

"_What...did I do?" He put his hands upon the boy's wound, a green aura flowing from them. Shiden closed his eyes as the wound slowly sealed up, from back to front._

"_You just proved that you are worthy of being a Pillar of our Village. A Chosen." Shiden was still smirking. "I want you to be a member of my squad. Do you think you have what it takes?"_

_Tenso stared at the boy, until a rumbling filled his consciousness. _**"You stand at a crossroads that all of our Chosen must decide. Will you be the lonesome monster, the freak that everyone assumes you are, and do your part only when mass murder is required? Or will you join the others, fight to protect this Village, and all who rely on you within it?"**

_Tenso stared at the boy; the hydra had not said a single word to him before this, except when he had been Chosen. "...I'll work with you," Tenso said, holding his hand out reluctantly. Shiden shook it with a smirk._

"_You won't regret it forever, but you might regret it for the first few missions."_

_He most certainly did._

Tenso and Shiden sighed happily, stretching out as they watched the clouds from the Weather Ball Jutsu began to roll in. "Who's getting the Storm treatment?" Tenso asked, smiling lightly.

"The other two. I can't get you with genjutsu, so it's not a necessity to bring on the rain."

"...Bring it next time." Shiden glanced at the youngest God host. "I want to fight you at your finest. So what if I'm better equipped to handle your illusions? You have more than just those to fuck with us. Bring it on."

Shiden grinned even more, holding out his hand. Tenso clapped it, then returned his hands behind his head. "I'll start pushing you tomorrow."

"You'd better be ready for some pushing of your own _today,_ brother." Shiden's head turned to see Koen coming towards them, a bag hanging from one shoulder. "Rai told me to deliver this to you guys. Breakfast, another food pill, and some more God Coffee."

As usual when with only family, Shiden ate like a starved dog, hardly waiting for utensils before he started digging in. Tenso ate the same as always, slow and calm.

"Alright, breakfast is done," Koen said, picking up Tenso and dropping him on his feet. "It's time for my training, 'Sensei'." As Tenso left for his few hours of rest, Shiden got up, stretching. Koen chuckled cruelly as the first drops of rain began falling. "That's not going to ruin this fight, you gloomy fuck."

"Your wit is as sharp as ever, brother. I hope you can still make funny quips when that tongue is cut out."


	11. Memories Part 2

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 11: Training and Reminiscence, Part 2

_As Tenso left for his few hours of rest, Shiden got up, stretching. Koen chuckled cruelly as the first drops of rain began falling. "That's not going to ruin this fight, you gloomy fuck."_

"_Your wit is as sharp as ever, brother. I hope you can still make funny quips when that tongue is cut out."_

Koen's body let out a massive surge of red chakra, the rain evaporating around him. "I'll be making quips at you until the day you die, Mopey. Now, what is this special training you said you had planned for me?"

"Hit me, first." Koen shrugged at the exceedingly simple order; Shiden was known for fucking with his best friend at every turn. This was going to be just another moment in their friendship where one of them would get hit in the face. He opened the first Gate without even hesitating, then shot in at the boy. He disappeared as soon as Koen was close enough to touch him. "Too slow," The voice taunted from behind him, back where he had been standing.

Koen let his body relax a bit, then stretched out until every joint and tendon popped. It was a sickening sound, but it was a useful trick, to keep oneself tight until grace was required. The next time he leaped at his friend, it was with a new speed. The blow still struck nothing more than rain. "Have you gotten slower, or am I still buzzing on the coffee?"

"You're about to get your teeth knocked in," Koen countered, pushing off with all the force he could to reach the boy. Still, before he could get there, he saw Shiden's hands behind his back. Sliding to a stop, Koen glared at what he thought was an illusion. "I'm getting mad, brother. You want me to hit you, stop using fake tricks."

The "illusion" punched him right in the mouth, surprising him by putting him on his ass. "I'm not using any tricks but my speed, brother," Shiden countered, holding his hand out for the inevitable retaliation. Koen grabbed the hand, then pulled the lighter boy down onto his fist, the knuckles digging in just below the solar plexus.

"That's a nice sentiment. Now, what is my training, seriously? Before I have to hit you harder?"

Shiden picked himself up, offering the boy a hand again. Koen took it this time. "You can already hit harder than a whole squad at once. What I was trying to get you to try was using your range. Against Gaara, your speed will be used against you. With Dosu, you can't get close faster than he can let that sound cannon off."

"Cannon?"

"It's not a bullet, because it explodes and extends once released. The closest comparison is my rain genjutsu, something that I can use without getting myself."

"And for Gaara?"

"Storm Style: Living Deluge."

"Fuck! You really are making me use long range, aren't you? It's not as satisfying, brother! How am I supposed to feel the bones break without dealing the blow myself?"

"You have an unhealthy obsession with breaking people. Before you complain further, allow me to explain your first opponent, Shikamaru. He seems like a lazy good-for-nothing, yes? However, he picked apart his opponent's plan in under a minute, beat her in under five."

"Do you think I'll be that weak, brother?"

"No, I know you have plenty of strategy behind those muscles. I know you can think fast, react fast, even kill fast, but this is a _show._ Those people will not be there to see us, they'll want to see the clan heroes, like an Uchiha or a Hyuuga. You are to show them why they should remember your name."

"Did you give this advice to Tenso and Ren?"

"They get their own lessons. You guys aren't going to be interacting as a team for this month. Don't talk about what you're learning from me, they won't talk about what they are." Koen nodded. "Now, we will practice. You are not to use a single punch, kick, Gate Opening or Mass Change technique. _Everything else_ goes." The next moment, Koen was being pulled under by the genjutsu he thought he had dissolved. "Go, by the way," Shiden's voice sounded oddly distorted in the water, as if he were on the other side of a wall.

Koen knew better than to thrash or fight; the water would just tire him out before killing him that way. So, he drew his chakra cloak out again, an explosion of heat dissolving the water again. "Did you just use eye contact to cast the _same_ genjutsu on me?"

Shiden was smirking lightly, wiggling his fingers. "Nope. I've been working on that trick since I got the Weather Ball version down. I can personally, _physically_ plant it now, but it still requires water for the genjutsu to take effect."

"I see." Koen signed quickly, and unleashed a wall of flames at the Jonin. He cut clean through them with blades of water.

"Okay, time to get serious. After Shikamaru, you will be fighting Tenso or Kankuro. Since Tenso is all about summons, I'll do similarly."

"You're not seriously going to-" Then his best friend was signing rapidly, and a giant water dragon shot out of the water now covering their ankles. The elemental creation plunged Koen back under, the genjutsu trying to clamp on again. So, he wasn't going to really summon, just play like it. That was fine, Koen could do without fighting flocks of hawks.

"_**Shiden has begun using genjutsu in everything. He must mean to put people out more, rather than killing them with a bolt of lightning from above."**_

Koen didn't bother responding, his cloak lifting him from the water.

"Wasting your God chakra isn't a smart move," Shiden commented from behind, unleashing another Water Dragon and following it up with a copied Infernal Serpent, the flaming creation much less powerful than Koen's version. Shiden wasn't naturally Fire-affinity, nor was the Garuda, so it was tougher to do for him than it would have been for Raizen; the Chimera was Fire and Wind-affinity, while the boy himself naturally wielded the Storm Style elements of Wind, Water, and Lightning. The two blows sent Koen rolling across the surface of the water, sliding back to his feet.

Koen glared at the blatant use of the forbidden techniques he blatantly used, and unleashed the true Infernal Serpent Jutsu, the creature wrapping around Shiden and exploding with enough force to blow a hole in the ground _and_ the clouds overhead. Shiden was nowhere to be seen...until the sound of something powerful swirling came from above. Koen looked up to see a Hurricane Drop in process. Ignoring the rules, as was his wont, he activated the Second Gate and dodged, only to shoot in before the boy could release the power and plant his fist somewhere behind Shiden's face with the force of the punch. Instead of anything as bloody as a missing head would normally cause, the whole body evaporated with a –poof!- and Shiden appeared at the boy's side with a sweeping kick that took him off his feet.

"I said, no Gates. Are none of you three going to listen to the rules? I love fighting with you guys, but this is serious training."

"I would take it more seriously if you and I weren't supposed to be equals, brother," Koen replied, pushing himself to his feet with a light glare. "You and I were the first Chosen, remember? We were supposed to work together, become the unstoppable pair. Then the Council saw fit to grant you a squad, and I was stuck following your lead."

"Do you have a problem with me leading, Koen?" Shiden seemed genuinely surprised. "We are still partners, brother. I lead because that is the position I was forced to take. You were not going to get a squad, we both knew it. I took the chance that put us both together."

"But you denied me the chance to stand equal with you!" The snake host countered, looking more annoyed than he had in a while. "You told the Council you didn't think I was ready! Me! I had done nothing _but_ train beside you, trying to reach the Day of Judgment when I would face the Gods myself!"

"_I_ barely survived!" Shiden said back, chuckling a bit; he thought this was just a problem that had been bugging him. The chuckling was the wrong thing to do.

Koen leaped on his best friend, slamming him into the water. "I would have won!" He shouted, his cloak rippling around him. His eyes looked more like the flaming god's than his own, the blue replaced with a molten gold, the center a burning green.

"You would have died for trying!" Shiden answered, his own cloak flowing now, a caustic green-purple combination. His eyes were slowly turning red, the single comma returning to his irises. The two rolled around, swinging at whatever they could, the chakra bubbling and hissing and steaming wherever they touched. Shiden wound up on top for a moment, and he shoved the snake's head beneath the water, slamming it against the ground. He repeated the move twice before letting Koen's head up to breathe. "_Now,_ are you going to listen? Or do I have to keep trying to kill you for a bit longer?"

Koen glared up at his leader, closing his eyes and sighing. "...Get off me. I get the point." The point was, no matter how angry he got, Shiden kept his cool. He was ideal to lead and leash the monsters. "I'm surprised you didn't just use Blood Sealing on me."

"That would have been pointless for the exercise. It would have just made you think worse of me, that I fear your powers." He leaned down, demonic eye to demonic eye. "I don't fear you, brother. I respect you, but you need to trust in fate once in a while. By the time it matters, you will be a Jonin, too."

Koen took the hand up when Shiden stood and offered it, and the two stood silently in the rain. "By the time it matters, you'll probably be Hokage," Koen said stiffly.

"Then I'll just promote you to Co-Hokage," Shiden answered without a thought. "If they say it's against the rules, I'll punch them in the face _for_ you, then change the rules and promote your sorry ass anyway." Koen laughed, the resentment from moments before washing away with the rain. "Do you remember our first fight?" Shiden suddenly asked.

"The _first_ fight, or our first _fight_ where we actually tried to kill each other?"

"The _first_ was the first time we tried to kill each other."

"...You sure? I think I was holding back that day."

"That's okay, so was I."

The two laughed, thinking back on that day, the day that Shiden decided Koen would be his brother, and the day Koen decided he would always support Shiden. Even at times like this.

"_Alright, class. Today, we're going to be reviewing what we've learned and then performing it in actual live combat. To keep from grievous injury, each match will last two minutes. And before any of you think of picking on Emeria, the opponents have already been decided." There was a great deal of booing, until Koen started cracking his knuckles. Even at age six, the boy looked like he could lift two people his size with no problem. He'd already shed his uniform top, and was ready for a scrap._

"_Who will she be going against, then?" Raizen asked, ignoring the brute that was showing off._

"_You'll find out when she does," the teacher said, covering his face with hand. "Why are you all so interested in her?"_

"_They like picking on her because she's the youngest in the class," Shiden said, his voice unemotional. "They also do it to hide the fact that they think she's pretty." The girl in question blushed as red as her hair, covering her face with her hands._

"_That was a rhetorical question, Shiden, but A for effort. Now, get into the ring. Let's see how you and Koen stack up."_

"_Me?" Koen said innocently, as if he didn't expect to be the first-and fastest-fight every single time._

"_Yes, you. You two are my top students, brains and brawns." The two glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes, glaring a bit. "First, the review. I want each of you to use what we have learned in class, the Summoning Jutsu." Each of the children had been made to sign a contract with one of the Animal Clans that were in agreement with the Hallowed Grounds, the snakes, the hawks, the wolves, the metal hydras, or the lions. Only members of the Kuga family were allowed to make contracts with the hydras, but that didn't stop almost every single kid from trying. Koen respected the Clan Laws enough not to try, and he loved his adoptive parents enough to stick with the tradition. He signed in blood on the snakes' contract, while Shiden had signed the hawks' contract, also for the sake of tradition._

"_Begin!" The two boys began signing in rapid unison, each biting their left thumb at the same time to draw blood. Their hands hit the ground at the same time. Their summons appeared in unison, a snake as large as Koen and a hawk that fit well on Shiden's shoulder. The two signed at the same time and banished their summons. "Alright, alright! Finally, I get to see you two working in tandem."_

"_Just start the fight already," Koen said with that smirk of his, Shiden looking completely apathetic._

"_Alright, fight." Koen pounced with all intentions of just knocking the kid down and beating his face until the teacher called it off. Instead, the boy sidestepped and kicked Koen in the chest, flipping him in midair to make him land on his back. Shiden then stomped down on the other boy's face, hard. Instead of the intended knockout, however, Shiden's ankle was grabbed before the foot could land, and he was thrown to the ground beside Koen. The two got up at the same time, and Koen tried to swing straight-on to hit the boy. Shiden was still faster, ducking the blow and sweeping Koen's legs from under him._

_This time, Koen rolled back to his feet, his hands forming different signs. _"Enryuu Secret Technique: Mass Compression Jutsu!"_ The body that everyone knew-a bit plump but still muscular-was destroyed. A much thinner body with far more ripped muscles made an appearance, and even Shiden had to stop and stare._

"_What?" He managed to say before an arm hooked around his neck and threw him bodily to the ground. He could taste blood in his mouth as he spun to his feet, signing in return. _"Water Style: Needle Spray Jutsu!"_ He breathed in, and let loose a spray of needle-sharp water, formed by drawing chakra up into his throat and mouth. The shot caught Koen off guard, but he was fast enough to dodge after the first few layers of needle struck him. As if it had been planned that way, Shiden was facing opposite his classmates, so as to avoid hitting them. Once Koen moved, Shiden cut off the attack and ducked, avoiding a roundhouse kick from Koen that would likely have taken him off his feet and into the ground._

_Koen was prepared, or so he thought; he dropped his elbow down, only for it to hit concrete, as Shiden had rolled at the last second. Koen's head whipped around to see the bottom of a combat sandal just before it conquered his face._

_Koen regained consciousness a moment later, Shiden holding a hand out to him. "You're stronger than me, even faster. But I'm smarter, and sometimes, that's all it takes." Koen took the hand, then pulled the smaller kid's face down to meet his waiting fist. It didn't knock the young Arashi heir out, but it did dislodge a tooth that had been getting loose for the past day or so. Shiden stared at the boy who still held his hand, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, and smiled for the first time since he was a baby. "...I like you," he said, pulling the Enryuu adoptee to his feet._

"_I like you too," Koen replied, grinning in response._

"_You wanna be my brother?" Shiden asked, making Rai, who had just summoned a baby lion, snap his head around and squeeze down on the cat's ear. It bit his hand, hard. Koen and Shiden, both ignoring the shriek of pain, shook with their left hand, the bitten thumb leaving a trail down the wrist as they pulled away._

"_Now we're blood brothers," Koen said with a chuckle._

"_And we will be until the day we die." Koen grinned at that, turning to see the other kids staring, some in shock, some in fear; now the greatest weapons in class were now friends. The learning curve was high enough before; now they all were going to suffer just to pass._

Shiden stood up, stretching, and slapped Koen's back. "Get up, man-mountain. I'm going to make you into a proper volcano yet. Then, maybe then, we'll talk about the Meteor."

Koen stared up at his friend like the holidays had come early. "...HOW."

"I stole scrolls from the time I could walk. Once the teacher taught us how, I kept them with me always." Shiden pulled his shirt off, revealing the marks on his biceps, shoulders, back, even around the seal on his stomach. Summoning seals, all of them. "Once we get a bigger place, or even a secure chest, I'm going to get them off of me. It's a danger, to have that much knowledge sealed away on one person."

Koen stared at the marks, then, with the speed of years of training, he sucker-punched his brother in the gut. "You fuck! You never even told me about this?! ME!"

Shiden chuckled, coughing in between laughs. "I never even told my father! Now, let me catch my breath, and I'll give you knowledge that our parents didn't think to teach us."

Koen grinned as much as he had that day long ago, and held out his hand. "I think I can handle that." Shiden took it, and the two stood. Shiden performed the signs, biting his thumb and sliding the blood across the mark on his left bicep. Out sprang three scrolls, each as big around as Shiden's forearm and as long as Koen's.

Then, the scrolls vanished again, just as Koen was reaching for them. Staring up in confusion, Shiden was grinning that sadistic grin that said hell was soon to follow. "Oh, no. You think I'm just going to _give_ them up? Nope, you have to follow the rules. We still have two hours of training left."

"...You fuck." Koen popped his knuckles, adopting a dark smirk of his own. "Fine. Let's see how far I can kill you from."


	12. Memories Part 3

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 12: Training and Reminiscence, Part 3

_The scrolls vanished again, just as Koen was reaching for them. Staring up in confusion, Shiden was grinning that sadistic grin that said hell was soon to follow. "Oh, no. You think I'm just going to give them up? Nope, you have to follow the rules. We still have two hours of training left."_

"_...You fuck." Koen popped his knuckles, adopting a dark smirk of his own. "Fine. Let's see how far I can kill you from."_

Before round two, Shiden created another Weather Ball Jutsu to draw the rain and clouds back in, though he claimed this one had no genjutsu sealed within it. It didn't matter, he needed the water for the training, and the hole in the sky that Koen had blown had caused the jutsu to start failing, the rain stopping with it.

Koen took that time to absorb nature chakra, just enough to refill his reserves. This made the marks around his eyes turn an orange color, along with rounding his pupil. He didn't need the power of the snake to overwhelm him, the serpent of rage being the most difficult to control. It was a struggle between the boy and the serpent at times, but Koen had enough personal rage to sate the God when those times arose.

When the orb flew up, Koen shot from his sitting position, flipping back and away instead of forward like his body had been dying to do. His hands were a blur, but the signs were perfect. _"Earth Style: Hunting Snake Jutsu!"_ He slammed his palms to the ground both to stop himself and to activate the technique. From his hands, the ground began to arch upwards, like something had suddenly grown beneath it. The water was parted by the size of whatever it was, and it would be over Koen's ankles if he wasn't standing atop it.

The thing below the ground went racing towards Shiden, whose eyes were still almost glowing red, the single comma in each not visible at that distance. Shiden's hands were a sudden blur, his character of choice for this conflict being Gaara. _"Storm Style: Living Deluge Jutsu!"_ The water around him engulfed him, making a dome around the Arashi heir. From the base of the dome, tendrils of water extended, making it look like a liquid octopus. Then Shiden drew on his God chakra, crossing his index and middle fingers on each hand to create Shadow Clones. Then each signed as rapidly as the original to turn the water tendrils into Water Dragons, all heading for Koen.

He sighed. "At least be subtle, you always tell me. What do you do? Become a bad TV villain." He shifted his stance slightly, and something shot from beneath the ground right at the original Shiden: A stone serpent. He danced around it, smacking it with a palm covered in water. The serpent shuddered, then exploded from within.

"Nice mud snake," Shiden called, the first Water Dragon within striking distance. "Next time, use something stronger!"

"Have you ever noticed how competitive you get in these things?" Koen called back, signing rapidly. Each of the pieces of the mud monster became new snakes, which wrapped around Shiden and his clones. _"Forbidden Magma Style: Exploding Snake Jutsu!"_ The stone suddenly crackled with the excess chakra Koen had planted within the original, and the creatures exploded inside the dome, collapsing it and the dragons of water racing towards him.

Only one Shiden remained when the smoke cleared, his body partially burned; already the Garuda was healing him, however, the burns turning pink and the smaller ones fading quickly. "Magma and Meteor Styles," Koen said to himself. "One physical, one ranged. Both so very fun to use, according to my father. Shame he didn't get to teach the one I preferred to me before he died."

"I may not be able to teach you as well as he would," Shiden said, opening his eyes and grinning, one of his bottom incisors missing, "but I'll do my best."

Koen laughed, falling back on his ass in the water. "You look so stupid right now!"

"I didn't swallow the tooth, so Tenso can just put it back in."

"Does that mean we're ending practice early?"

"I am. You will keep training until your allotted time is over. Don't disperse the clouds if you can manage it, but keep working on your range. I doubt it will be so easy with Gaara. His dome doesn't seem penetrable from any angle, once it's put up."

"I was listening in to what Kankuro was bragging about to Naruto. Sure, the chakra sand behaves because of the Shukaku-thanks for telling me that, by the way-and he doesn't actively put chakra into it until he attacks, but that dome is mostly chakra multiplying and copying the sand around it. All I need to do is copy the chakra signature of the sand, and I can make something penetrate it. Or I can put the explosive in the sand once it has attacked me and goes back for his dome."

"That's pretty insightful for a bit of analysis, but you could also melt the sand with the intensity of an Infernal Serpent, or risk top speed like Lee did. With nature chakra and the God's power, you could break him in half with one punch, dome or no."

"You heard Ren, though. The guy switched with a dummy made of sand. He seemed to melt _into_ the sand. My top speed is more than Lee's, but not enough to risk it on an all-or-nothing like Lee did." He stretched himself out as he crossed his legs for meditation posture. "As for Dosu, I can probably blow him up quickly, if Ren doesn't disable him from the beginning. His technique seems to be to put chakra into the sound, much like our call. Just like when we didn't wish to hear the Council announcements through the call, we just have to channel chakra through the points in our heads. Or use the cloak. But I don't think I'll need it."

Shiden nodded. "Constantly turning to the power of the Gods is not wise. They help us willingly, but we can be consumed by their power." He got up and turned to leave. "Don't forget to finish practicing. Nothing but meditation will make you weak."

"And you know this from experience, don't you?" Koen countered, still grinning.

"Fuck you, that's how I know." The Jonin left at that point, while Koen left the outer world to journey to his inner one, where he could speak with the serpent properly.

"_**Hello, boy."**_ Even inside his body, the serpent radiated more power than Koen could comprehend. It was huge, vast, a true god among snakes! There was no cage, no prison, just a single seal on the back of the cobra's hooded neck, the seal glowing with a sickly, purple-black coloration; the sign of the Fifth Clan's sealing technique, the only one capable of giving the Gods to Hosts. Koen had the same mark on his stomach, as did the others.

"Hello yourself, Lord Hissorius. I seek your counsel and advice."

The serpent settled itself more comfortably, head resting on a coil. _**"You honor me with a personal visit to ask for advice? That is unlike you."**_

"I seek advice on how to protect my brothers and this Village."

The serpent tilted his massive head. _**"More unusual. You have never sought my help with such things before. Well, rather, you've never sought my **_**advice**_** on such things. You have always needed my chakra to help break your boundaries."**_

"That is part of the problem, Lord. I have a bad feeling that Orochimaru is going to reappear during the Third Test. If he does, I will need your full power to put him down."

The snake considered this, head tilting back and forth, like a giant boat on soft waves. _**"...I will show you the path to wielding my power. But not today, and not tomorrow. Not until you can stand without my power against your greatest obstacle and ally. Build your reserves, grow stronger with my power...then defeat him with your own."**_

Koen nodded. "Thank you, Lord. I will do as you command." He turned from the snake, and felt his body again. Unlike Ren and Tenso, he couldn't do both at the same time, gather nature chakra and talk to the God in person. He wasn't jealous; he and Tenso were like Shiden and Raizen, only with more teasing and death threats, if that was possible. He and Ren were pretty good at working together, as long as their opinion of the target matched.

Koen released his stance and got up, body flowing with the energy of nature chakra. He began signing quickly, thinking of his God, all the strength and majesty of a great magma serpent with a flaming hood. _"Forbidden Magma Style: God Serpent Jutsu!"_ This time, when he unleashed the chakra from his throat, it came as a lava monster, a twisted image of his master with molten rivulets dripping from its maw. He forced himself to put more into it, more thought and definition, and it slowly smoothed over, became a fair-but-smaller facsimile of the real deal. So much focus required to make it made him certain that such a display would only be good against someone like Shikamaru, who was slow to plan everything out himself. The next part was easy; He sent the snake to wrap around a tree in place of a real target, and caused it to explode. Shiden had asked him not to blow a hole in the sky, but it was inevitable; he liked seeing blue skies too much to let the clouds ruin his day.

He continued practicing, gathering nature chakra to replace the snake's chakra. Each technique he practiced was ranged, and he kept his word not to use the Gates or his Mass Change abilities.

When Shiden came to get him for lunch, he was covered in sweat instead of rain, the clouds long since passed and the ground absorbing the water fairly well with fire evaporating a good deal of it. Shiden didn't complain about the loss of cloud cover, and he didn't bother using another Weather Ball; it would only drain _him_ more for his next pupil.

Lunch was on Rai, as had been expected, but he wasn't in the mood to make anything, so he had gone and gotten them takeout instead. It was still a good meal, and the half-hour of debate about which other candidates would be training the whole time was perfect to help settle the stomach.

Koen yawned when the clock chimed noon, and Shiden and Raizen stood, ready to fight; if their mother's clan were still alive, all of them would have shed tears of joy at the idea. The Shippuu clan was obsessed with blood feuds in the Main House. "Have fun, you two," The serpent host said, grinning at his best friend.

"We will. You two just get ready for your sparring matches." With that, the two blood brothers left, leaving the adopted family to enjoy more lunch.

Shiden and Raizen stood upon the muddy field, both seeming to simply take the other in. They had been training haphazardly before the Exam, but this time, Shiden seemed to have something special in mind. "Tell me, brother: how many blood types have you consumed to permanence?"

"About five, including Tenso and Koen. Yourself, brother?"

"Seven, including our other brothers." His aloof look turned serious. "I need you to be the real mystery of this tournament, the shining star. You have the ability to use all five elements. Your record speaks for itself, almost spotless." Both let a moment of silence pass between them. "You can easily strategize a way to maneuver around the ninja you face. However, Koen and Tenso won't be taking this lightly, and I hope you don't, either. The ones who have made it this far in the Exam have earned it, even if some of them gave...kind of pathetic displays."

Rai shrugged. "I'll be serious, brother. There is no doubt that I will fight seriously. I'm ready to train."

Shiden nodded. "Then we're going to train hard. You will be using Fire-affinity solely, while I will be using Lightning only." Rai nodded, and the two took their places, bowing as was the way they had been taught. Shiden was first off the mark, immediately rushing with a palm of lightning ready.

'_He's using my own technique against me!'_ Rai thought in outrage, dodging the first flurry of blows his brother sent his way, all like a predatory cat on the attack. He responded with a rapid flurry of hand signs. _"Fire Style: Phoenix Twister Jutsu!"_ He seemed to throw flames from his sleeves, the fireballs spinning around him as if they were miniature orbiting moons. He pointed an arm at his brother, and the fireballs obeyed, shooting straight for him.

Shiden didn't even hesitate, signing just as rapidly. Two fingers on his left hand began glowing with electricity. _"Storm Style: Voltic Seeker Jutsu!"_ The less-powerful technique hit one of the fireballs, then seemed to arc between the rest and strike Raizen, who was blown off of his feet by the force of the bolt. Shiden walked over slowly, the shuriken disguised as fireballs dying one by one.

"...You cheated," Rai said, glaring up at his brother.

"You're right, I did. Do you wish to guess why?"

"You had a lesson to teach me about how my opponents are all assholes like you?"

"Exactly. No one else is going to be going easy on you. Why did you decide to use only Fire? Because I said so?"

"Duh, teach." Rai took the hand his brother offered, getting to his feet. "First, you stole my Lightning Claws-"

"And did that make you want to use one of my tricks against me?" Shiden prompted, looking his brother dead in the eye.

"It made me want to use it on you to show you how to do it properly," Rai responded, clenching one of his fists.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because you gave me a rule! I try not to break rules!"

"You try, brother, but you never quite get it. I was simply trying to nudge you into your element."

"...I'm taking this seriously. If you're not, I'll train alone." Shiden grinned a bit.

"Come on, we never played when we were little. A little joking now and then might be good for you."

"...You know, brother, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we had become regular shinobi." Raizen adjusted his gloves, flexing his fingers as he did.

Shiden tightened the Hallowed Grounds headband. "So do I." The two grinned at each other, then rushed one another, fists flying like the old days, when they didn't have gods within.


	13. Memories Part 4

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 13: Training and Reminiscence, Part 4

"_...You know, brother, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we had become regular shinobi." Raizen adjusted his gloves, flexing his fingers as he did._

_Shiden tightened the Hallowed Grounds headband. "So do I." The two grinned at each other, then rushed one another, fists flying like the old days, when they didn't have gods within._

_Raizen at age six was not yet an antisocial being. He liked girls, he liked a few adults, he even liked his teacher. He did not like his brother, and he really did not like his brother's new friend. Shiden was the antisocial one at that age, rarely talking to anyone except his father and mother, and occasionally his brother._

_Raizen did not like his brother because his brother _always won._ It was infuriating to listen to his parents going on about how much better at being a ninja Shiden was. So, Rai had to try harder all the time, just to meet expectations. Whenever he fell short, it felt like his parents' love faded just a bit._

_A few weeks after Shiden and Koen had started being friends and training partners, the teacher split the dream team up to pick some new people to fight each other. Somehow, Raizen and Shiden got picked as opponents. Shiden didn't seem to care, and Raizen seemed to care too much, happy to get a chance to show up his twin._

"_No jutsu, no killing, five minutes. Begin!" The teacher had said, and Raizen struck first. He drew the practice kunai that they had been given, one in each hand, and darted past his brother on the left. As the boy spun to the right, so his left hand could be more useful, Raizen turned on a dime and struck his brother in the back with his fist rather than the blade. Shiden stumbled forward, much to the gasps of their classmates. When he turned around, Rai saw that side of his brother that he respected; the serious side, not the aloof and carefree genius he showed the rest of the class. Shiden drew his own kunai, all five of them, and threw them one at a time. Rai deflected all but the last, because it was either block that one or take a blow from Shiden, and the Shippuu heir-apparent preferred not to let his brother get in any real hits. He caught Shiden's hand, dropping the kunai in his hand as he did. Shiden caught it and tried to stab his brother in the side, only for that blade to be blocked by Raizen's remaining one._

"_You boys are fairly even," the instructor commented._

"_No, we're not," Shiden said, his hollow voice showing a bare hint of irritation. "He is weak. Our father can't teach him anything without having to go over it repeatedly. He can't beat me at home, he won't beat me here."_

"_Dad's not watching this time," Rai answered his brother full of anger. "And he always tells me I _can't_ beat you, because the second son isn't supposed to be better than the first!" Shiden froze, and Rai struck, the kunai leaving a fine groove across the elder twin's skin, straight as a line could be, from cheek to cheek and across the bridge of the nose. The tiny line of blood was not missed by their teacher, but he was silent as death; calling this match would probably end with his ass getting fired; no one interrupted the Shippuu kids while they fought amongst themselves, even if one was called Arashi._

_Shiden and Raizen both stared at the blood on the tip of the knife. Then they collided again, fists flying and kunai forgotten as they wrestled, trying to better one another without resorting to their chakra skills, like the teacher had decided for this fight. Raizen rolled to the top with almost no difficulty, and started pounding on Shiden's arms, which covered his face. Eventually, however, his arms got tired, and Shiden kicked him off with a knee to the spine._

_Rai fell to his stomach, and Shiden grabbed the back of his head, lifting carefully, just slowly enough to make the hair pulling hurt. "Dad meant that you really _can't_ beat me, brother. But you are always welcome to try. I like fighting you." Rai stared at his brother, unbelieving that the whisper had really been spoken. Shiden didn't like anything about his brother, always criticizing him, always telling him...he could...do better._

_Shiden slammed his brother's forehead against the ground before Rai could say more than "What?" The pain was intense and immediate, and though his vision watered and turned red, he was still conscious. Shiden noticed this, and pulled up to slam again. The teacher moved in the corner of Rai's vision, but he wouldn't let that happen. He swung sideways, right into his brother's side. The gasp of pain loosened Shiden's grip, and Rai shoved the hand away and swept his legs under his brother's. He pounced again, pinning his brother's arms at his sides. Shiden instantly repeated the way he got his brother off last time, kicking him in the back of the head this time._

_Raizen fell forward and rolled to his feet, grabbing one of the kunai littering the ground. Shiden had one in his hand when the two spun to face each other. They locked blades for a moment, then Shiden grabbed his brother's wrist and jabbed. The kunai sank into the soft flesh of his brother's side, a gasp of pain and a bending motion from Raizen meeting the rapidly rising knee of the undefeated class champion._

_Koen found consciousness some time later, a cold and wet cloth wiping the blood from his forehead. Shiden's hand was the one holding it, and he could feel no wound in his side._

"_You almost had me, brother," Shiden said casually, while Rai pushed himself to a sitting position. "At any time, you could have electrocuted me and ended the match quickly. It was the easy way out, and the teacher might not have noticed."_

"_...I didn't want to make you suffer, brother. I just wanted to beat you."_

_Shiden stared at him, a shocking chuckle escaping. "You're funny, brother. I wish you luck beating me one day."_

_On that day, Raizen started liking his brother a bit, even if he resented the shadow that continued to grow over him from the rising star._

Raizen drove his fist into his brother's face, failing to knock out a tooth, even the one Tenso had put back in. Still, his brother swung his knee into his solar plexus, so Rai wasn't sorry for what he did next. He drove his palm through his brother's defenses, planted a palm on his chest, and unleashed a surge of lightning chakra through his hand. Shiden spasmed twice, then fell back, gasping for air as Raizen picked himself up, standing over his twin. "I wanted you to suffer a bit today, brother. An hour of fighting, a bit of cheating, and I finally beat you. Your luck isn't required anymore."

Shiden took another steadying breath, then chuckled up at his brother. "Fuck...you. I...am going...to rip...you a new one...later." He held out his hand, and Rai took it, pulling him to his feet. Shiden smiled lightly. "I'm proud. Dad would be pissed."

"Mom would make us bleed." Rai chuckled, though it was a little nervous; he remembered his mother hanging him from one foot and letting the younger kids, Tenso included, hit him with a stick until he blacked out, all for questioning her orders on a mission.

"That's not entirely likely. She could be proud we fight each other, or she could torture us. Again." Shiden had experienced his mother's wrath only once, and it was the worst humiliation, though not the worst pain, either boy had suffered. They had broken her rule of fighting in the house, and they weren't sure who, but one of them had set fire to her wedding dress. She used the Blood Seal on her own children, part of the combination seal that the Pillars had designed to restrain each other. Then, she had nailed them to the Council Hall in her pregnancy dresses. They never openly disobeyed her again.

Raizen wiped his face free of sweat, closing his eyes. "Okay, brother. That fight was fun, but I need to know more. Mother and the elders taught me of Blood Style, but Father taught me nothing of Storm Style but the basics. Everything else, I've had to learn from watching you or studying."

"I don't think you should use the Storm Style exclusively in this Test, brother. Think of what else you can do."

"I have the Storm and Blood. Thanks to Blood, I have Magma and Meteor, though they are the same; Metal Summoning, which is only useful if Ichi or Nii feel like being nice to me; Ice, from when Mom brought us home that 'Test of Heritage;' I have that weird eye technique that you said was a genjutsu, but it just makes me feel sick to use; I'm very capable with animal familiars now; and, of course, I have puppetry, but that's another learned thing."

Shiden didn't seem impressed or discouraged. "Okay, you are going to begin working with everything. _Everything_. You are encouraged to take powers during this upcoming Test, but don't use them against anyone."

"Right, no using powers that I wouldn't know how to use anyway. I don't even know how to use most of the powers I have. Please, just get more experience of Storm Style under my belt first?"

"...Fine, brother. I will teach you a bit of Storm Style that you do not know." Shiden signed slowly, showing his brother the movements, and created the Hurricane Compression jutsu. "You have to focus the chakra out of the points on your arm, and control the flow in a circular motion."

"That...is nothing like Lightning Style." Raizen sighed. "That's how I learned most of my Storm Style, by converting it to Lightning focus."

"It's quite a lot of Wind focus, to be honest. Or, you could direct more focus to Lightning, see how it turns out."

Rai thought about it, slowly gathering his chakra through his arm. He let it vent out through the whole arm, like he was calling his chakra cloak. As it almost always did, the chakra came out as electricity. He focused harder, changing the chakra nature to Wind. It sparked out, then a rapid spinning wind began, like blades around his arm. He knew better than to touch it; his brother had nearly blown his arm off the first time it detonated prematurely.

Shiden looked the move over, his eyes narrowing as he saw the blades of wind. "Your blades are larger and fewer. This technique is fairly flexible, but yours is...damgerous. Mine is meant for incapacitation without killing, even if I sever a few valuable bits on them. Yours seems to be purely lethal. Slashing, not shredding."

"I'll work on it. Practice makes perfect, after all. For now, let's move on."

Shiden looked at his brother with raw irritation. "...I'm going to hurt you sometime soon just for saying that. Do it again, until you 'make perfect.' I want to see what your dedication factor really is for learning the Storm Style."

"It's as earnest as it was for learning Blood Style." Rai took a few more times to get the wind to his brother's satisfaction, about seven more to make sure he had it, and a few more just to test his release and the explosion. Finally it was declared perfect.

"You've seen everything else I've mastered, and you've done something like the rest, or mimicked mine and gotten it down."

"Then take me to your fantastic land of speculation and practice. Like you said, your shadow is not so long here. Let me stand equal, for once. We can figure the techniques out together, brother."

Shiden looked uncomfortable; it was one thing to work with his brother all the time as a team leader. To train him as superior and student was an easy thing. He had never tried to open up to even Koen about his practice techniques. The earnest look Rai was giving him only made it worse. "...Okay, brother. You beat me, you proved you are more than worthy of clan secrets. Two minutes is all that separated us."

"Now that's thirteen _years_ and two minutes," Rai said, not trying to sound as harsh as usual.

Shiden let a light grin cross his lips. "What better way to balance the scale than to show you shit I've never shown anyone else?"

The two reset their stances, side by side this time. Shiden went through the hand signs once, channeling no chakra. "The scrolls say that this move is all about the Wind and Lightning, though Water can replace either element."

Rai nodded, following the signs with his own hands without skipping a beat, though he frowned a bit as he tried to ignore an inkling in the back of his head. "Alright, where does the chakra get channeled to?"

"The scroll says through the hands or throat." The second time, Rai tried to forcefully ignore it; his brother was proper in almost everything, with a few swear words being exceptions. Grammar dictated that the scrolls should have said, not that they do say...unless the son of a bitch had hidden all of his knowledge and still had it..._'That. Mother. Fucker.'_

"You paying attention, Rai?" Shiden asked, waving a hand in front of his brother's face. He got a punch in the gut for the second time that day over his secret.

"You fuck!" Rai shouted, pouncing on his floored brother and dealing ineffective blows to the chest, more like accusing jabs. "How could I not realize it?! You didn't keep your books anywhere! I shared a fucking room with you and I didn't realize it!" Shiden had finally gotten over the shock of what was going on, and struggled to get up, only for a proper backhand to meet his cheek. "Stay down and take your fucking licks! This information could have spared us a lot of emotional fucking trauma! I thought I'd never learn more about our clan abilities than what you _fucking assumed_ ever again! Tenso and Ren are fucking _eleven_, and they know almost nothing about the Kuga clan's powers! Do they know about this fucking secret library that I'll assume is in the place where a normal person's soul would be?"

Shiden finally kicked his brother off, Raizen's biggest weakness being that he sat too far forward when pounding on someone's face. He ripped his shirt open to reveal the seals once again. "To answer your last asinine question, Ren had figured it out. He knew because he figured I had secrets, and he realized I didn't have any scrolls or books or places for them in the room, despite all the time I spent studying them. Why else would I not be completely broken down when the Village disappeared?"

"So, once again, your own brother is the only one out of the loop." Rai didn't want to sound bitter, but he had no reason not to be. Despite agreeing to teach him what he didn't even really know, it was rare for the microscopically older brother to favor him. Shiden had picked his brother at age six, and his friend at age nine. Rai had been the unfortunate add-on between those two events that Koen put up with and Tenso and Ren had to deal with.

"What are you talking about now? I only showed Koen a couple of hours ago." Shiden was showing a bit more emotion than usual, but the wall was ready to come back up soon. "Why are you suddenly acting like this?"

"...Because I'm remembering Dad, and you look so much like him it makes me sick."

Shiden raised an eyebrow. "...You look like Dad, too."

"And I hate it!" He shouted, the air growing static, a real storm rolling in overhead. "I _hated_ our father, I _hated_ our Village, and for a long time, _I hated_ _you!_" Shiden said nothing, his face reverting to his neutral mask, like he always did when he felt he had overextended his emotions.

"And that! I despise that look, brother, that look our father always gave when he looked at me, when I failed because he wasn't taking it slow enough or was expecting too much. I was a kid!"

Shiden cocked his head, raising an eyebrow again. "I was a kid too." He had to duck under a thrown kunai.

"Fuck you! You were his pride and joy, his prodigy, the one he did everything carefully for! Whenever I was around, he would stop, didn't you notice? Suddenly the lesson became more direct and focused, and he would make sure to have you test the move on me!"

"..." Shiden rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "I tried not to notice, but Dad made me too perceptive, I guess. I heard him tell you that little quip about first and second-born, when we were kids. The fight he and I had, the one when I was ten? That was because I told him you deserved something, some inheritance besides the family vote for business matters. Mom was outraged when she found out Dad was giving you nothing from his clan. Since the Village had been trying forever to merge the Main Houses of all five clans, the rule of the oldest child leading all Main Houses involved was worded specifically at inception of the Village."

Raizen felt a weight falling away. "Mom...She did everything she could, though she still gave you greater favor. Even with that family, I was kind of a second son..."

"At Dad's insistence. We were the first twins born in a long time, the precedents were all dead and buried. He didn't want you to get a swollen head, just because you were _born_ to the Main Houses."

Rai felt bad now. "Dad really hated me, didn't he."

Shiden couldn't deny it, but he couldn't agree, either. "He...wanted to make sure you weren't set up for disappointment." He sighed. "I saw it, and I just accepted it as life. He was a complete bastard, and I couldn't do a thing to stop him. Not without leaving you to the mercy of our family in my planning...and Dad's side would have come for your head."

"That's right. 'Arashi blood does not fight, while Shippuu blood waters the Gardens of Life.' Old grudges die slowly, and Mom and Dad were lucky the rest of the Village was so happy with the union."

Shiden summoned the scrolls that were sealed in his right bicep, and held them out. "If you feel like studying without me, keep them. I'll get them back when you're done."

Rai stared at the offered scrolls. It was odd how his feelings towards Shiden fluctuated, but the more his brother did things like this, the more Rai liked him. "...No. We train together, or not at all. But, you had a regimen for me, Shiden-Sensei, and I will follow it."

Shiden sighed. "Why won't you ever just take an easy offer from me the first time?"

"Because I am Host to a god who is bull-headed on one side, lion-headed on the other, and has a snake for a tail. I'm stubborn, aggressive, venomous, and I won't take shit off of anyone without goring them. I'm willing to admit my failures, however."

Shiden laughed at that, returning the scrolls to the seal for the time being. "Alright, then, Pillar Raizen. Storm Style is put on hold for now. Instead, let's try puppetry. You remember that Missing-Nin intel from the Sand a few years back?"

"Ah, the 'Living Puppet' thing? I only got a look at it, but I noticed the name Sasori of the Red Sands. I was impressed that he could make human bodies into puppets, too."

"Well, try it on me."

Rai raised an eyebrow, looking much like his brother. "...You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all. We both make Shadow clones, and, using me as your puppet, you will fight the clones. That way, you can learn from both methods."

Rai blinked away the confusion, smirking. "I'll make the clone only use Fire Style."

"Do you think you know enough Fire Style to make it work?"

"If I'm allowed to use Zaphos."

"He's _inside you,_ Rai. I can't _make_ you not use his powers without using the Double Soul Seal, and that would destroy the usefulness of the practice."

"Shut up and make your clone." The two made their clones at the same time, the two jumping back to stand ready while Rai attached his chakra threads to his brother. He did a few experimental movements, and found that his brother responded better than the training puppets the Fifth Clan employed at school. "...This is just like genjutsu training," Rai noted, forcing his brother's hands to clap together and begin signing. The clone Rai signed rapidly, unleashing a great flaming wall.

Shiden finished signing, and his eyes widened. "This is...Storm Style: Cyclone Disk!" The disk formed as the hand extended, a single flat blade of wind with a circular shape.

"That's right, one of our other tricky maneuvers. Handle me, will you? I'm going after you."

"I'm your puppet, I can't do anything without your help."

"...Fucking. Dick." He jumped back and made Shiden dodge the other way when the Raiclone slammed his flaming body down on the spot they had both been occupying. The disk was thrown, and Rai cut all but two of the cords to sign rapidly. His clone dodged the wind disk, until Shiden's arm on his otherwise limp body twitched backwards, two fingers extended.

"Release," The 'puppet' said, and the disk exploded; another compressed hurricane that could explode. The Raiclone let his flames explode outwards to neutralize the wind...only to get a Voltic Spear driving right through his chest. He dissipated, and the real Rai ran to his living puppet, quickly reattaching the strings. In that time, the Shiden clone disappeared, probably going above the clouds. If so, the two boys could do so, too. It was difficult to sign and make his brother sign at the exact same time, but he suspected his brother was cheating to help him this once.

"_Storm Style: Cloud Shift Jutsu!"_ The two felt the wind engulf them and pull them in to the sky; the next thing they knew, they were channeling chakra through their feet to keep above the waterlogged clouds. The other Shiden was there, already forming a Cyclone Disk for himself. Then, he took it further, the God's chakra spilling over his arm and engulfing the disk, turning it from pure white to a sickly purple.

"...Dude, your clone is a troll."

"I know. Shall we troll back?"

"You can fall back to earth, if you want. I'll take the clone myself."

"...Fine. You've proven you can use a puppet of flesh and bone, which will be interesting to see how you use in the Test."

"Simple: I'll get an arm or a leg, and make it fold."

"If they see it?"

"Can you see my threads now, brother?" Shiden could not, though he didn't comment. "Thought not. Now, go or stay, but get the hell out of my way." He cut the threads at that moment, Shiden sticking around to watch what his brother would do to the clone.

He was on the move quickly, dodging the disk when it flew at him. He even avoided the release, though he was concerned about any watching the skies and seeing a hurricane suddenly form. He switched to Fire Style like his clone had been doing.

"_Fire Style: Infernal Chimera Bomb!"_ He knew Koen would have punched him in the mouth for the blatant rip-off, but he didn't care; by the time he finished with Fire Style, he would have something better than the flaming chimera he roared out and caught the clone with. It exploded, and the clone was no more. The two then repeated the Jutsu that had brought them up there, glad to be on firm ground again a moment later.

"...I'm telling Koen," Shiden said with a teasing grin.

"Tell him. You have no proof. Besides, mine is totally legit. It's not forbidden because Zaphos' hosts haven't used such a technique. Namely because they can't also replicate some of Hissorius' chakra at the same time."

Shiden laughed. "That is the worst and best excuse I have ever heard from you, brother. Now, what time is it?"

The younger twin checked his watch. "...Almost dinner time. Come help me, we can get it ready faster so you can eat and be back out here for _more_ training."

"...I hate you so much. Can't I just sleep?"

"...Take off the Hallowed Grounds headband, and I'll consider it on the way home."

The headband was pulled off and put away, the Leaf Band retrieved from its location and returned to his head. "I can do that. Memories are just memories, after all."

Rai and Shiden returned home, where Ren and Koen were in the middle of hit for hit; Koen was giving the boy bruises, Ren was deadening nerves. As Shiden proceeded to beat their adopted brothers, Raizen went into the kitchen to make dinner. They wouldn't get to spar that night, as they were too busily locked in their wrestling games until Rai called them to dinner.

After dinner, the three Chuunin Candidates were given reading material to study, Ren a bit more surprised than Shiden thought; he got a third punch in the gut for his secret.

At nine, they returned the scrolls to Shiden's seals, and went to bed. It had been the most eventful day since they arrived, or so the Candidates felt. Shiden felt this day was far, far more eventful. And full of emotion, which was not like the group at all.

Perhaps this place was good for them, after all...


	14. Day Off?

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 14: The Day Off; (Personal) Missions in the Leaf!

_After dinner, the three Chuunin Candidates were given reading material to study, Ren a bit more surprised than Shiden thought; he got a third punch in the gut for his secret._

_At nine, they returned the scrolls to Shiden's seals, and went to bed. It had been the most eventful day since they arrived, or so the Candidates felt. Shiden felt this day was far, far more eventful. And full of emotion, which was not like the group at all._

_Perhaps this place was good for them, after all..._

Shiden discovered one thing he would come to hate in the coming years: Messenger hawks. They did _not_ shut the fuck up when ordered, or until you took the message; they were protected by law, so killing one would result in prison time; and they demanded tips. Finger tips if nothing else was handy. So it was for the first time, when the bird had crashed through their window and started pecking him at the breakfast table, then flew off with his bacon. Maybe it was just that bird, but he would later discover that no, all messenger hawks hated him, perhaps because of his contract with the combat ones. Jealous little bastards...

After Shiden had gotten the devil bird away, the boys resumed breakfast as the sun rose. Sometimes the best routines were hard to get out of, and breakfast before work was how Shiden liked it. Reading the message over, he said, "Lord Hokage has a mission for me. I'll be out of the Village for...a week."

All three Chuunin potentials looked like Christmas had been cancelled.

"Hang on, we're not coming?"

"Message says me only. I guess because he doesn't want to 'risk your health' before the Test."

"That's bullshit! What are we supposed to do about training now?"

"I'll leave the scrolls you guys will need here. Train alone. If you don't quit or lose, any one of you could face the other, or others, in the Third Test. You have your strategies. Use them."

Ren was the only one not vocal about the whole thing. "...Be careful, Shiden. If it says a week, it might mean the client wants you _gone_ that long. That would be just enough time for one of the rival factions to try scouting us to their side, or for one of the inner factions to scout us. ANBU, Intelligence Squad, Medical Squad, Scouting, so on, or even the other Great Villages. We are the last surviving bloodlines of a mystery assassin Village, after all."

"They could also want me gone because they think you'll be easy prey with me gone."

Koen pounded his left fist into his right hand. "I'll go easy on them, so the Leaf has someone to interrogate."

"And if it's the Leaf that tries to kill us?" Shiden didn't seem concerned by the shocked looks on their faces. "Let's face it, our own parents tried to kill us all the time. What makes us so sure the Leaf elders or someone in the special forces doesn't see us as a threat that _needs_ removing? I have only watched him once or twice in the Village, but look at the way the people treat Naruto. They avoid him like the plague, and when he tries to be nice, they essentially spit in his face. My little act against the most prominent clan in the Village's Branch House heir will probably come back to bite us all."

"Yeah, that was unwise, brother." Ren stretched a bit as he finished his breakfast. "I don't think the Leaf will be the ones trying to kill us, but if they do, we'll let you know."

"That's my team. Focus on the positive. Human doesn't mean weak, it means able to adapt and cope." Shiden put his dishes in the sink, then packed up his few possessions that had gotten out of his travel bag. He summoned the scrolls for each of his brothers, then set out for the Hokage's Mansion.

"...Day off?" Ren asked the two, an air of innocence in his voice.

"Day off," Koen and Rai agreed simultaneously.

They would practice the next day, and the rest of the days until Shiden returned. This day was important, a day of rest so they could digest and properly recover. Ren still took his scrolls along after he dressed in more normal clothing, black shorts, a white vest, and a grey long-sleeved shirt under the vest. He tied his Leaf headband around his neck, leaving the Hallowed Grounds one behind; no need to bring up the past with what he was going to do today, visit Hinata in the hospital, then find Ino for Tenso, with a lot of studying no matter what.

Koen wrapped from his knuckles to his elbows in cloth like Lee normally did, and pulled on his ninja uniform; the typical Hallowed Grounds gear was all black, but Koen's uniform was based on his clan's combat gear, which removed the sleeves of the shirt, covered the shirt with a weighted, red vest, and a set of boots which were essentially combat sandals with a solid steel cap over the toes. It restricted the flexibility of the foot slightly, but the payoff of smashing someone's face in with one solid kick was worth it for the boy. He had refrained from the boots during the exam because they would have been a bit more lethal than sandals. For his training, however, they were perfect, and he _was_ going to train. After he saw Lee and Kiba. Like Ren, he left the headband behind. It wasn't like he was attached to it as anything but a symbol of his brotherhood, and this was about himself. He wouldn't wear it again until one of the others put it on first.

Rai's plans were fairly simple: Clean up the house, wait for Naruto to wake up, hang out with him all day. He usually ran into Sakura at some point, and the Chimera host was ready to make his move. He was dressed casually, but like the other two, he had his Leaf headband on, using it like a hair band to keep his bangs out of his eyes while he started cleaning. The other two were off as soon as he started washing the frying pan; that was the most lethal weapon Rai had ever wielded, and Koen feared frying pans simply because of what Rai had done to him with one just after the three elder Pillars had become Chuunin in the Hallowed Grounds

***.

Ren arrived at the hospital in pretty good spirits, a negative thing in many peoples' opinions. "I'm here to see Hinata Hyuuga," he said politely to the desk nurse, who disappointed him instantly.

"I'm sorry, she has just been through another round of surgery. Even her father isn't allowed in to see her."

"...Was it that bad?" his voice almost sounded like a kid's in that moment; he hated it. He wasn't a kid, he was a ninja. Koen's voice had already deepened, and he was thirteen.

"I recognize you from a few other visits. You helped the surgeons a couple of times, so I'll assume you're a competent ninja. Her heart was severely damaged in that fight, as well as the chakra passages and points around it. Her lungs took some damage, her liver, and one strange blow on her throat."

"There is a chakra point at the base and top of the throat," Ren instantly said, "as well as a Chakra Gate. It is also likely he did it to disable her Byakugan. If the chakra can't travel to the eyes, the eyes can't activate." He bowed his head. "Thank you, anyway. I'll be..." He paused. "Is the Sunagakure kunoichi Temari in this hospital?"

"She was checked in for overnight watch, but she left a little bit before you arrived." Ren nodded, bowing his head again.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll be going now." He gave her a dazzling smile and took his leave, walking quickly through the streets until he was well on his way to the flower shop. Then he turned his attention to the first scroll; it was the control capacity of the Metal Summoning Style, the way that he could actually manipulate the hydras that he summoned. He was enamored, but his mind was not so unfocused as to ignore the world around him.

Upon smelling flowers a bit earlier than he remembered the shop being from the hospital, he glanced up from his scroll to see Ino sitting with the pink-haired ninja of Team 7, eating breakfast at a little open-air café. Tenso sprung up from within, but continued walking and reading.

"_Uh, the hell are you doing?"_

'_Walking to the flower shop.'_

"_But Ino's back there."_

'_I know.'_

"_...Any insight for your other side as to what you're planning?"_

'_If you want to talk strategy, I don't have any. I'm going on impulse and instinct, and I think going to the shop _first_ is a good idea.'_

Ren raised an astral eyebrow. _"And if she notices you before you get past?"_

Tenso risked a glance at the girl, relief in his mind that Ino was facing Sakura. The other girl was busy throttling some poor guy, probably for some imagined slight against her. _'I would have had to improvise.'_ He turned the corner, then another, and saw the somewhat familiar flower shop. He opened the door to find a woman much like Ino, from the hair and eye color to the sense of fashion and the sort of lazy beauty that Tenso admired; neither she nor her daughter needed makeup to be beautiful, the only work he could tell she had put into the look was the dress and brushing her hair.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked, smiling lightly.

"Oh, no. I've already got an idea of what I would like." He first went to the hibiscus section, but there were none left. So, he started looking for something different. He quickly found a strand of flowers connected to one another, all a similar, gentle shade of purple. The flowers were small, the leaves of the stalk like maple leaves or the strange herb his parents had ground down and smoked occasionally. "Excuse me," he asked gently. "What are these, and what do they symbolize?"

The woman chuckled lightly, far more amiable about the subject of meanings than her daughter. "That is delphinium, also known as larkspur. It symbolizes ardent attachment, levity, and fun. It's a sign that you're big-hearted."

Tenso seemed thoughtful, until he went to the next flower he saw, white petals around a yellow trumpet-like appendage. "Those are daffodils," the woman said, grinning; she had been watching him carefully after the first question. "They are a sign of chivalry, of respect and unrequited love, and a request for feelings to be returned. Lastly, they can be a sign of new beginnings. They are quite a good choice for a quiet and polite young man like you."

He took another moment of thought, before picking two. "...I doubt you would think that if you knew me." He brought the two flowers up, paying with the last of his money.

"I think I know you fairly well, child." Her eyes were suddenly shrewd and sharp. "My husband is one of the heads of Interrogations. He knows about the 'special' boys from the Hallowed Grounds." She gave a dry little smile. "My daughter also spoke of you, both before and after the Tests. You have made an impression on her, that much is certain." She bound one of the flowers with a ribbon the same blue as the girl's eyes, the other with one as red as his. He was stunned, even after the little smile widened just a bit. He didn't need to feel killing intent to know it was there.

"Do take care not to hurt her, dear boy. Larkspur is poisonous, as are a few hundred other plants in this shop. Many of them you wouldn't notice in a drink or meal." Tenso nodded dumbly, backing up so quickly he tripped over a small table that was, thankfully, empty. Then, he was out the door and running.

Koen reached the hospital about the same time as Tenso, but he just went on up to Lee's room; he was damaged goods, but the kid was inspiring. He had trained hard to become a shinobi, despite his inability to use nin-or-genjutsu. He had given his all to fight a monster. Koen had even visited the boy while Rai and Shiden were training yesterday.

When he arrived today, the boy was out of bed, doing pushups with one extremely wobbling arm. Koen sighed from the doorway. "If you kill yourself before I can save you, then I will feel like a major dick strolling into heaven to beat you back to life." A small smile crossed Lee's lips before his hand gave out, and he fell hard to the floor. Koen walked over and picked his friend up, setting him on the bed. "I know it's hard not to be training all the time. Sometimes, it's all I can do to control the beast within. But I know when to rest, too." He clenched his fist tightly.

Lee looked up at his face. "Now is not time for you to rest, I feel."

"No, Lee, it's not. I have to go visit Kiba, too, then I'm going to go train. If I face Gaara, I will rip him apart for this."

Lee shook his head. "I risked my life and almost lost everything. Everything my instincts told me was to give up, hope he didn't attack while my back was turned. He has killing intent."

Koen's pupils slitted of their own accord. "So do I," he said, clenching his fist tighter, until blood began to leak over the fingers. "He could have ended it without destroying you."

"Am I already dead?" Lee asked with a groan, pushing himself to a sitting position. "Is there absolutely no hope?" The fire in his eyes was back and Koen knew the kid would somehow be okay. "If that is so, then I shall make hope for myself! I shall will myself better, and come the next exam, I will pass!"

Koen chuckled a bit, his own eyes still those of a predator. "That is the spirit I like to see in my friends. If that is the power of youth you talk about, then I'm all in for it." He wiped the blood onto his other hand, and held it out for Lee. "On my blood, the only thing I will always have in this world, I swear that I will find a way to make you a shinobi again." Lee took it and shook, and for a moment, Lee felt the awe-shattering power of the serpent, its coils becoming taut as if in preparation to strike.

"_**I also swear upon this blood that holds me, that you shall wield the greatest power of all, that of righteous fury. The bravery to stand against any adversary, any threat, and win."**_

Lee blinked, and Koen was gone, the blood upon his palm already drying.

Naruto woke up late this morning, and was slightly disturbed to find Raizen just waiting out front. "Hey," he said, looking around for the others; Shiden had expressed way too much interest in him over dinner, and a few of the fox puns had sounded perverted to the boy. Tenso had kind of been funny, but the way he kept going quiet and glaring with dislike had Naruto a little worried. As for Koen, well, the big guy had out-eaten him, but he had given props for the attempt. Maybe if he hadn't stuffed himself with ramen before Asuma invited them to the meal.

"What's up?" Rai had a light grin on his face, so Naruto wasn't expecting combat, but maybe a prank.

"...Nothing, I just woke up."

"Any plans for the day?"

"I was going to try and get Kakashi-sensei to train me, but I doubt he will. He'll probably help Sasuke, since they both have Sharin-thingy."

Rai chuckled at Naruto's refusal to say it right. "He probably will, but forget Kakashi. Train with me today. I need a partner, since Shiden's off on a mission, and the others are doing their own thing today."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Naruto asked, a bit nervous. "We are opponents, after all."

"Naruto, I'd like to be your friend. You're the underdog. I want to help you become better. You, and your foxy friend." Naruto was speechless, and he was almost ghost-white. "My god knows the taste of Kyuubi chakra, and I tasted it in your blood." Naruto got a creeped out look on his face.

"...That is disturbing, Raizen. More than you know."

"No, I know exactly how disturbing it is. I possess a special Kekkei Genkai that lets me analyze the genetics of anyone whose blood I taste. I can sense chakra type, blood type, any Kekkei Genkai..." Rai leaned in close, and Naruto did too, listening intently. "And I can even copy them. If you had any special bloodlines inside you, with enough examination, I could find them and emulate them."

Naruto was staring, like he had never heard something so cool or disturbing in his life. "...I'm not letting you drink my blood, Raizen."

Naruto fell back through his front door clutching his face, a clear imprint of Rai's fist right in the center. "I wasn't offering, you moron. Whatever, go play with the pink eye club, if they'll let you." Not even the woman of intrigue that was Sakura would let him stay near Naruto for extended periods of time yet. He hopped to ground level, and set off for Ichiraku. He had eaten his own food, but he was self-criticizing about cooking. He had eaten little, and he was ready for food that he appreciated.

Tenso carefully tucked the flowers away, pulling out the next scroll while he walked. This one was about chakra control from all points, and how it was easier in combination with the Byakugan. It seemed like a hand-written report of someone who had worked with a Byakugan user, not a real one themselves. However, the intel was fascinating. He was tempted to practice holding the eyes again, but there was just too much here. He didn't want to see _everything_. Just the things that were important: potential assailants, escape routes, and romantic interests.

The girls were still at the café when he passed by again, though this time he pretended to be completely into the scroll, not sparing a glance until he heard the pinkette's voice: "Hey, Hallowed Grounds kid!" He ignored her.

"Tenso?" Ino's voice was much less boisterous than her friend's today. When he glanced at her, she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. He smiled back, however, and walked over to the two.

"Hello Ino, Sakura. How can I help you two today?"

Ino didn't seem willing to speak, so Sakura was doing all the work. It was unlike any time he'd seen them together. "Ino wanted to talk with you yesterday, but you were nowhere to be found."

"I was training."

"That's what I figured," the pink one said, looking at Ino as if she had just won some minor argument. "So, I'll let you two talk. Do you know where I could find the big one of you lot?"

Tenso decided to be nice for the girl. She had a hard enough time in the exams, and she had lost. "They're all bigger than me. If you mean Koen, though, I suspect he'll be at the hospital first, then he'll be looking for a good training spot."

"What sort of training spot?"

"Somewhere with huge boulders and lots of loose sand. He might be gone all week, if he finds the perfect place."

"Just a week?" Ino asked, joining in the conversation.

"That's how long it is until Brother Shiden comes back. Then he will resume training us."

"He must be powerful, to already be a Jonin," Sakura commented, grinning.

"He's a lucky son of a bitch who refused to let us take the challenges ourselves!" Tenso suddenly said, blinking and looking apologetic the next moment as he noticed the shock on the girls' faces. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. He _is_ powerful, and he was our leader while we were in the Hallowed Grounds. Here, though, it feels like we have a chance of standing beside him, rather than being stuck under him. There, the Council of Elders didn't trust us. We were continuously brought in for questioning and testing, as if they thought we weren't able to handle ourselves."

Both girls seemed between pity and fear, until Tenso smiled brightly. "Anyway, I have something for you, Ino. I was going to give it to you later, maybe after a walk together, but I need to train. Shiden wouldn't be pleased to know I was even thinking of slacking off." He pulled out the two flowers, holding them both out for her. She took them with a light blush.

"Thank you, Tenso. Though, I'm sure Shiden wouldn't mind that much if you took a single day off."

"Oh, he would mind. He just wouldn't say anything until it was time to train, and then he'd run me into the ground." He grinned a bit more, and turned back towards the Village Gate. "I'll see you later, Ino. Sakura, I don't mean to try misdirecting you, but I do remember that Raizen wanted to talk to you today." The pinkette cocked her head.

"Why would he be looking for me?"

"He wants to make friends. He's already done so with Naruto, and I think he tried making friends with Neji Hyuuga. Anyway, bye!" Unable to hold the energy in any more, the boy took off, hopping to the nearest roof to get across town faster.

"_You just signed a death warrant, you know."_ Tenso chuckled to himself.

'_He did want to see her, and maybe making friends will be a good way to get closer to her.'_

"_...We really are bad at being humans, aren't we. We don't know jack shit about how to do much of anything outside the realm of combat and death."_

'_That's not entirely true. We know how to interact with people, we just don't have the same moral or mental state as most of them. We can make friends, but we have to turn off that part of our mind that seems uninhibited about any topic. We need to develop standards, limits.'_

"_So, you want us to start bending to peer pressure and limit ourselves to the strength of those around us?"_ The blunette rolled his eyes, landing before the Gate and walking through it with a light smile.

'_Not in so many words, nor in that particular direction. We can be God Hosts all we want. We just need to figure out what that means for us here, not what that meant back home. We are just regular kids here. Kids with monsters inside us that make adults feel unsafe.'_

"_...I have no idea what you're trying to say, for once."_

'_We have to be subtle. You know that word.'_

"_Yes, I do. I can do subtle. You can't, but I can."_

'_How am I not subtle?!'_

"_You just gave Ino flowers that represent unrequited love and ran off without waiting for a response. Need I go further than the last five minutes?"_

Tenso sighed to himself, shaking his head. Ren needed go no further than that. With the argument settled, they turned for the training areas, the eyes of their shared body turning white as the muscles around them tensed up. It was time to find an empty spot to study and train.

Koen found his way to Kiba's room, smiling lightly. "Hey, friend. How are you feeling today?"

Kiba jerked up from slouching as the other appeared. He seemed happy to have a visitor. "Hey, Koen. I'm feeling shitty. How about you?"

"I just came to...apologize." Koen was serious-faced as soon as the word tried sticking in his throat. "...I shouldn't have done what I did."

"Hey, it's all good," Kiba said, the little dog barking agreement. "We fought, we got to deliver a few blows, then the opponent, who has been trained to _kill men_, gave me the mercy of a quick fight and let me have my life. Sure, I was shaken for a bit, but I realized that if I let it buckle me that badly, I'd never recover. If I quit just because I met someone beyond my skills, I would've failed in the Forest of Death; my squad came across Gaara, and he was killing people. Without trying, without reason. He just wanted to see people die."

Koen wasn't against a fair fight and a death if one was unwilling to stop. He wasn't against killing for a mission; he considered it a job still, not that distant from what Chuunin were supposed to do. He _was_, however, against psychotic antics like murder for pleasure. Still, he was relieved. Kiba was alive, well, and he didn't hate or fear Koen. "It's good to see that you're alright."

"Alright would be them letting me out of this hospital bed for more than a few minutes."

Koen smirked. "...Wanna come train with me?"

Kiba grinned, pushing himself up more, then groaning and laying back down. "...We'll have to have a rain check for that. My body is still recovering."

Koen nodded, wishing for the first time that he could swap his muscle for healing powers. It was probably the only time in his life so far, but he figured that with the cocksu-er, conscience he was supposed to be developing, such feelings would be a bit commonplace for a while. He wasn't looking forward to that.

"Alright, I'll...see you later." The two ninja nodded at one another, and then Koen was gone again, heading to look for a training ground. Hopefully, one that could withstand a few baby punches, unlike the poor widdle tower.

Rai sat in the ruined and muddy field, meditating. He had looked through the scrolls, and while they weren't on Storm Style, they were still useful; one had contained several Fire Style jutsus of various grade, another held Earth Style, and the last had been a study of Blood Style limitations and weaknesses, such as trying to combine multiple eye jutsu. In all, the scrolls covered a few subjects that interested him, but he would stretch his studies out over the week, a bit a day. He thought about the puppetry angle, and created a Shadow Clone. _'I'm no artist. I can't make beautiful weapons. If I begin using puppets professionally, I'll have to find something perfect. A weapon that can even take the power of you, Zaphos.'_

"_**I am amused by this thought. Maybe you'll walk the path of that Sunagakure ninja, the one who used human puppets."**_

'_I could, which is why I'm using the Clone for now.'_ He connected his chakra strings to the living puppet, and it jerked a bit. He made it sign rapidly, trying a technique he had picked from the Fire scroll, the Burning Talons; it seemed to be an idea from a former Host, most likely the Garuda or the Chimera. His "puppet" reacted at almost thought-speed, signing quickly and creating the claws of burning chakra. "Not bad, me. Now let's put me through my paces." He released the chakra strings, and the clone turned to face him. They drew their kunai in unison.

"_**I'm going to enjoy watching you take your anger out on your twin."**_

'Clone_, not twin. My twin is gone.'_

"_**I know who you see. Who you really wish to see disappear in a puff of smoke."**_

'_You promised to stay away from my psyche.'_

"_**I promised you greatness at any cost, as well."**_

Raizen said nothing as he locked blades with himself. The veil didn't fall over his eyes as it usually did; he had defeated his brother, even if it was just a little brawl. He had used the ninja way, to win at any cost. He saw only himself, the doubts and the problems that still filled his psyche beside the Chimera's whisperings. He jumped back, signing for his favorite, the Lightning Rise. The clone signed the new Burning Talons again. The real Rai missed with his almost trademark technique as the clone sidestepped, and the Raiclone slammed burning claws into the real deal's rib cage, tearing the shirt that he was wearing, one of the last he had brought with him that had been intact.

'_...I'm going to kick my own ass with savage glee.'_ He kicked the clone away, pounced upon the backpedaling body, and started sending chakra-infused blows into vital organs. Too bad he only got a few blows in before the clone dissipated. He stood, drawing more God Chakra to the surface. "More." This time, he created five clones. They rushed at him at the same time, only for him to begin signing something new.

"_Blood Style Summoning: Field of Blood Sealing!"_ He bit his thumbs and slid them across his palms, slamming them to the ground. The ground around him for seven meters turned into a sludge that, when the first clone landed on it, turned blood red. Something reached up and wrapped around the clone's leg. The rest of them were captured as soon as they landed. The clones felt a tiny prick, but not enough to dissolve them. They pulled free like it was simply deep mud, squelching steps towards the now immensely drained Raizen. He had sealed their chakra, and blown most of his in the process. He picked himself up slowly, stretching.

"Time to go old school." He jumped upon the first enemy, kicking into his chest and kicking off before it could dissolve. He landed on the next one, sending it into the mud. He drew a kunai and threw it home as he jumped, landing on his safe zone before the other three could get free to attack him. He threw three more kunai, using them as a screen as he jumped for the left one, favoring his right arm in the swing, as always. While the kunai and punch were deflected, his kick was not, snapping the clone's head back with enough force that one would assume he had just broken his own neck. The clone dissolved, and he landed on the field, sending his little remaining chakra to his feet to keep from sinking in. That was the only way to avoid this technique; it was often used in swamps or under water for ambush.

The two started trying to flank him, the one on the left being more defensive against his right-favoring stance. But, Raizen was nothing if not unpredictable in battle, and he willfully proved it as he dashed towards the right one, a kunai in each hand. Before the clone could adjust and block, a blade was in his chest, causing him to explode. He was facing the last one, each now holding a kunai.

"You're going to make this a chore, aren't you." Rai was drained, down to his last dregs of energy. Even if the sealing field couldn't hurt him, it had been a strain that he wasn't sure he could handle outside of training yet.

"I _am_ you," the other said, smirking. Even with chakra sealed, the clone had the advantage of observing what had happened to the other ones. It was a slim hope, but Rai was known for loving slip hopes.

"...Okay, you die solely for that comment." He darted across the field, ducking under the first swing and catching the blow in his shoulder, his own blade sinking right where his brother had planted one when they were children. The clone was still smirking as he exploded into smoke. "When did I turn into such an asshole?" he asked no one in particular, before releasing the field with a different set of signs. A bit of chakra returned to him as he did so, but not enough that the battle would have gone very differently.

Zaphos was kind enough to refill his tank, though Rai returned to meditating before anything else. He needed the distraction.

However, he soon heard heavy steps. Sliding one eye open, he noticed Koen coming for him, looking like he was ready to seriously train. "Need a hand?" Rai called.

"I only accept competent help. If you can keep up, you're hired for the day."

"I only accept work from competent employers. Make me keep up, and I'll work for you all day, free of charge." Rai may not have been as smart as Shiden, but he was just as much a smart-ass as Koen any day of the week.

The two stood, looking up to the mountain. "...Last one up buys dinner?" Koen asked.

"You're buying dinner," Raizen replied, punching his brother in the shoulder as he stood. Then he was off, leaving Koen to smirk at the dust.

"It's on," he said lightly, opening the First Gate and shooting after the fellow host.

They wouldn't train just with what they were learning; they would train as they always did, with everything they knew and had, with as much of their anger channeled out as they could. It gave them a clean slate to work on until the next time they fought.


	15. Will of Fire

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 15: Koen, Raizen, and the Will of Fire: Inheritance or Proof?

_The two stood, looking up to the mountain. "...Last one up buys dinner?" Koen asked._

"_You're buying dinner," Raizen replied, punching his brother in the shoulder as he stood. Then he was off, leaving Koen to smirk at the dust._

"_It's on," he said lightly, opening the First Gate and shooting after the fellow host. _

_They wouldn't train with just what they were learning; they would train as they always did, with _everything_ they knew and had, with as much of their anger channeled out as they could. It gave them a clean slate to work on until the next time they fought._

Even with the First Gate open, Rai beat Koen up the mountain. He was naturally faster, and he cheated; two rockslides and a frying pan were more than enough to win with a solid lead. It was worth it to Rai, even after Koen got up the mountain and punched him so hard his shoulder impacted. And then Koen was _kind enough_ to pull it back into the socket properly.

The two sat opposite each other, gathering up the resentment and anger. Their Gods were the best of allies and enemies, for one seemed to create anger, and the other created hatred. The two were infinitely different, but the correlation of both made wars all the more bloody. Finally, the two opened their eyes, gold meeting blue. They stood in unison, but then the synchronization was destroyed. The two surprised each other by both retreating, when normally both would pursue. They didn't deviate from their course, however, and both stopped at a different moment, Rai closer from the starting point. They signed differently, but the result was shockingly similar: a burst of flame unleashed from the hands in Rai's case and the mouth in Koen's.

The flames mingled and roared for a moment, which Koen took advantage of by charging straight through with his chakra cloak. Rai dodged to Koen's left, as he favored that hand for straight shots and hooks. The right was usually to keep him balanced or deliver the next punch. This time, though, Koen let the snake within guide his movements, and he dove and rolled in the air, swinging and connecting upon Rai's closing in jaw, his right hand covered with lightning as expected.

Rai flipped backwards from the force of the punch, landing on his free hand and knees. Koen was still in the air when the Volt Seeker fired, the extra charge of energy making it look like his signature Lightning Rise; he followed as soon as he gained purchase, ready to follow up. The bolt pierced Koen's shoulder, spinning him again, then Rai drop-kicked the snake, sending him sprawling in the soft sand.

Koen picked himself up, shaking his head and popping his neck as he did. "That was a new one."

"That was practice." He shot to one side, Koen to the other, as they started signing again. This time, Rai created a Cyclone Disk, slinging it when Koen stopped to slap his palms to the ground. He ducked under the disk, which exploded right over him and sent him whipping around. His work had been done well, however, as the Earth serpent shot out of the ground and railroaded the Chimera Host. The two rolled to their feet, a cyclone raging across the field as the serpent dove back into the sand to prepare for another strike. Now the fight was getting fun.

Koen started the next clash, using his Infernal Serpent Jutsu to create his flaming constrictor, while the underground serpent turned for another attack. Raizen used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to split up the targets, each charging a Voltic Spear and dashing in opposite directions. The snakes split up, and so was their undoing. One stopped to fire at the serpent aboveground, and was again drilled into by the underground one...only to get the second bolt into the back of the head while the clone dissipated.

Koen grinned. "You've been practicing some unique tactics. Usually we both just jump in and beat each other until you can't feel and I can't push the Gates any further."

"We've both been practicing different tactics," Rai countered, gesturing at the space between them. "You used to reserve range for ambushes."

The two began signing in unison again, and they realized it, so they pushed past the usual chakra and pulled out more God Chakra for the technique. _"Enryuu Secret Technique: Mass Compression Jutsu!"_ While Rai's transformation was far less impressive compared to Koen's muscle definition, when the two dashed in for the close-range fighting, they were on equal speed again.

Koen and Raizen had differing opinions on Taijutsu: Koen used it to break, Raizen used it to sunder. The difference of opinion was most obvious with their first physical strikes upon each other, each and every time they both went for close at the same time. Koen's fist was glowing with chakra, while Raizen had an open hand glowing with electricity. Koen swung first, and Rai dodged underneath it, as expected, swinging for the gut. Koen's second fist crashed down on the arm it at the elbow, but the blow made it through, and Koen got a good jolt of lightning pumped through his stomach anyway. Not the full blast, but enough that some less durable would probably have their heart skip a full beat.

The two disengaged with a stagger apiece; Koen righted himself quickly, while Raizen had to pop his forearm back into proper place, growling a bit as he did. "You know, I'm not you," Rai began. "I don't _like_ pain that I don't really need."

"Then you shouldn't have been a pussy. You thought it would be the easy hit. I had to prove you wrong, and so, you needed the pain." While Rai was still distracted with his arm, Koen shot across the distance, his knee digging into a shoulder and sending the Chimera host skipping across the ground like a stone across a pond. "Like it, bitch!"

"You like this, bitch," Rai's voice said, behind the Serpent host. As Koen saw the Shadow Clone vanish, he felt the full thrill of a million volts digging into his shoulder; he had turned as the voice reached his ears, but he still needed to see that the other was a fake.

Before his body began to feel numb, he channeled a great deal of chakra to his thigh and knee, and swung it into Rai's ribcage. There was a delicious crackling sound as the boy flew and a solid crunch as he landed. Koen fell to his knees, his vision blurring.

They had just rocked each other harder than they had in a long time, and it was all because of the God Chakra. With Shiden around, they had resisted fighting each other with it, because he would have planted them both in the ground for it. The Gods liked petty human squabbles, and encouraged the hosts to fight amongst themselves when there wasn't a mission or important task ahead. However, Shiden found it bad for a cohesive unit to fight more than necessary. Tests didn't count, competitions didn't count. In sparring, they weren't supposed to try killing each other.

Too bad the two had issues with one another that spanned their lifetime together, and a great deal of it was tied around Shiden. Before he had been qualified to take the Jonin Exam back in the Hallowed Grounds, he had played favorites among his team for everything, especially public situations. When Koen and Rai got to arguing in public, he always took a side against his brother. It made the Shippuu clan proud to see the brothers putting their differences out in public, it put Rai in disfavor with the Arashi clan for disagreeing with his brother, and the Enryuu clan approved of Koen's friendship with the dual-clan heir.

When they became God Hosts, the situation changed slightly, with Raizen always getting more approval from the Shippuu clan and far more disfavor with the Arashi clan. The Enryuu clan favored the boy as a rival to Koen, an obstacle that he would one day surpass. Rai took that as a personal challenge for two years. When they were put into the Box to face their God, the boys finally let go of a lot of that bad blood. They were equals, God Hosts, brothers in combat.

As the two pushed themselves to their feet, their chakra cloaks surrounding them, both thought about the one other time they had gotten this serious, the one other time they had broken Shiden's "God Hosts don't fight to destroy one another" rule.

_Raizen Shippuu was the third Host chosen of the generation. No one wanted to believe it, and no one had expected it, especially Raizen himself. As soon as it was declared, however, he had been grabbed and thrown into the Box for his Chuunin Test._

_The Box was a genius amalgam of genjutsu, sealing, and mental ninjutsu, all in a metallic box just big enough for an adult to curl up in. He was put in, the lid was sealed, and a greenish chakra filled the small space, forcing its way into his eyes, ears, nose, mouth. It wasn't drowning him, it wasn't like it was making him gag or choke, but the power he felt of the Box...this was the power of all Five Pillars working as one. Too bad the Fifth had vanished. There was only one Box left._

_After fighting his God for six hours, Raizen was given sweet relief. The Box opened, the chakra drained, and he was lifted out, the Chimera back in his head and purring with satisfaction. He had been mentally exhausted, but now his brother and his brother's friend were there, congratulating him. Shiden gave only a word, but Koen, the one who had been so raw with him all the time, itching to pick a fight, was unnaturally calm and happy. "Looks like we're finally on an even playing field again," he teased at the boy, who could barely make a glare, he was so tired._

"_We were on an even field before. Just because you had that massive reserve tank didn't mean you had to use it."_

"_Now it's _official,_ though. So, tomorrow. You and me. All-out. We won't stop until someone is incapable." Rai's face lit up, and he nodded with a grin._

_Shiden finally spoke again; his eyes had been traveling around, looking at the young generation memebers that were in the Village at the moment to try and find a fourth squad member. "You two won't fight all-out tomorrow. Or ever again." Both heads snapped around to look at their de-facto leader like he had grown a second head. "You are both God Hosts now. Hosts do not try to kill one another. If it wasn't a real rule already, I'd make it one right now."_

"_Fuck you, brother." Rai hated that his brother had already been guaranteed the Council Seat of both Arashi and Shippuu, and he was only nine. Slowly, they were turning into a real Village. Perhaps if all Five Main Houses were united into one, they'd even have a Kage._

"_Yeah, Shiden. I'm with Rai this time, fuck you. We are allowed to fight each other however we want, with however much power we want."_

_Shiden shrugged. "If you two numb-brained morons wish to waste your lives trying to one-up each other, I'll leave you to it. I've got other problems besides wondering which of your funerals I'll mourn at. And don't come complaining to me if the parents get on you for fighting like that, either." With that, he left the two, heading off towards the market._

"_Okay, tomorrow. Dawn. Top of the mountain." Koen raised an eyebrow at Rai's choice of location, but nodded anyway. Then the two split up as well._

_The next morning, both woke before the sun and climbed the mountain. It was steep and treacherous, even for shinobi, but the two worked together to get up there, and it was worth it. The clear view for miles was beautiful itself, but they could see dawn on the horizon._

"_Let's do it," Koen said, walking back a ways to enter his usual pouncing stance; this was before he had begun learning the Serpent's tricks, so all he really _liked_ doing was bringing others down and breaking their faces. Rai, however, was imitating his brother's stance, his brother's presence on the field. He was serious this time. All the classroom brawling in the world didn't matter now. This was real. This was what they both wanted. A test to see which of them was better, once and for all._

_The first ray of sunlight poked over the horizon, and Koen leaped at his target. Unlike his brother, who had dodged sideways for this attack, Rai flipped over his opponent, kicking him in the back. Koen landed on his stomach, rolling into a crouch as he started signing rapidly. _"Enryuu Secret Technique: Mass Compression Jutsu!"_ His body shrank in mass, but the swing that the boy landed in Raizen's gut was more painful than it should have been. Rai gasped, then flew across their battlefield as Koen threw him. Rai picked himself up, breathing fast and shallow to keep from feeling the blow too extensively. "Looks like I'm going to win this fight, just like the last three." Koen was walking towards him, taunting. It was his style back then. "And I intend to mark it on your body, as always."_

_Raizen could feel the chakra broiling from Koen's right fist; he favored his right in these fights, so he didn't waste his left on poor Rai. He had no idea what was about to happen, and neither did Rai._

_His vision wavered, his body twitched; suddenly, his vision went gold, then it went black. When his eyesight returned, it was a painful experience for the rest of him to wake up, too. His body had several new cuts that weren't there before, and his skin was raw. The gold was gone, but a strange sound had replaced his malfunctioning senses. He swung his head to find the sound's source, and saw a body. It was alive, but twitching, coughing up blood. Only when he noticed the red seals around his biceps and throat did Rai realize that his God wouldn't be coming out to save him. No self-source would be coming to save him._

_Rai dove to his friend's side, his hands a panic as he signed something he had learned from his mother before the Box; something that had the potential to kill him if used improperly. He brought his palms down over the gaping hole that looked like one of his hands had been digging around for the pancreas again. The Chimera had a thing for it, and he only knew that from painful memories that he felt during the conflict in the Box._

_Red chakra began to well in the wound, as the Blood Seals vanished. Then golden chakra began flowing from Rai's hands, and he felt agony the likes of which he had never felt; not from his father's Killing Stare, not from his uncle's Enchanting Death genjutsu, certainly not from his brother almost severing his arm. This was the pain of his own hand digging inside his own body._

_He looked down, and saw the blood welling from finger-holes in his chest. He coughed, and blood gurgled up from his throat. Chakra rushed forth to help him, he thought...then it felt like he was swallowing magma. He had done it, without realizing it; he had absorbed the chakra of another God. He had also absorbed the chakra of his fellow Host. And in return, he had saved his comrade._

_Koen gaped up at him, air finally building up in his lungs. He gasped, "Rai..."_

_The Chimera Host smiled, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. "I guess we can call each other blood brothers now..."_

_Koen blinked, grinning stupidly. "...Guess so," he said, wiping his mouth and shaking Rai's hand, the blood on both mingling. Their hands glowed with their God's chakra, melding slowly. The orange-gold chakra that resulted flowed over them both, the remaining marks healing slowly._

_When they went back, Shiden didn't seem surprised at all by their destroyed attire, their exhausted and scarred bodies, or the stupid grins they shared. He wasn't surprised by the amount of blood soaking their tatters and skin. However, he didn't tell them he told them so. They silently agreed, no more stupid shit like that._

_And, while their Village stood, so did that little pact._

As two chakra-coated fists collided, the rule seemed far away and long forgotten. They had fire in their eyes, and this time, they needed a dose of real pain. They backed off for a moment, each signing so fast that their hands were a blur.

"_Forbidden Magma Style: Burning Field Jutsu!"_ Koen slammed his hands down, and the ground began splitting outwards from his spot, the cracks snaking towards Raizen and filling with the same red chakra as the boy.

"_Forbidden Storm Style: Eye of the Storm Jutsu!"_ Raizen clapped his hands together, and the whole field went calm, save the cracks and molten chakra slowly spreading. Around them, leaves blew in a light breeze. In the space between them, however, nothing moved, not a blade of grass twitched. He had just created a vacuum, which seemed useless...unless one either could support it with Fire, or if the opponent _was_ Fire.

Koen's hand had already been signing the release symbol when the field was created. The ground between them exploded, and so did the entire space. The force of it blew them both off of their feet, and over the edges of the mountaintop. Rai had forced the match to a draw.

"_It is amazing how he can think of a way to hurt the fuck out of both of us. It's like Rai teaches us both a lesson Shiden would if he actually caught us."_

"_**He is a fascinating one, I will give him that."**_

Raizen landed hard, the cloak barely cushioning him. He felt plenty of pain, but not enough to take away consciousness or mobility. Koen had his fall broken by an aged tree trunk early, then many narrow ledges as he crashed to the bottom of the mountain. With one Gate opened and his Mass Compression in use, he was lucky to only fracture the radius bone in his right arm.

The two met up back at the entrance to the area, grinning and wearing their bruises with pride. They walked back into town, breathing heavily. "We're going to wreck our opponents in the Third Test," Koen said, grinning.

"I look forward to challenging you, brother." The two continued in silence, unaware that their fight had been watched by a strange man with a strange mask, a man who was now wondering if the Will of Fire could not only be inherited, but acquired through will alone. After watching that fight, he believed that anything was possible.


	16. Misunderstood

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 16: Misunderstood

_The two met up back at the entrance to the area, grinning and wearing their bruises with pride. They walked back into town, breathing heavily. "We're going to wreck our opponents in the Third Test," Koen said, grinning._

"_I look forward to challenging you again, brother." The two continued in silence, unaware that their fight had been watched by a strange man with a strange mask, a man who was now wondering if the Will of Fire could not only be inherited, but acquired through will alone. After watching that fight, he believed that anything was possible._

Tenso stood in the gym, facing the posts. His palms were raw and bloody, not used to this kind of work. He had studied Neji's attacks closely, studied Hinata's too. Unlike his Spirit Fang, the Gentle Fist was primarily palm attacks, with a few two-finger jabs in the mix. However, with the metal posts, he was finally getting it right.

He channeled his healing chakra to his hands, and they slowly sealed over. Then it was back to the post with his palms, striking at vital organ locations and the Gates. He had the Byakugan active, and he could see everything within thirty meters as long as he kept moving. There was one blind spot, but he had learned with his tunnel vision style that constantly keeping moving eliminated that blind spot. This was probably why so many female Hyuuga ninja had taken up dance at some point in their lives.

As he felt the first cut against his skin, he paused; Ino and Sakura had just entered his field of vision, and they seemed to be heading for him. Ino's face looked nervous, while Sakura seemed rather amused about something. He resumed his striking, feeling the cuts slowly build as he dented and warped the metal with nothing more than a light coating of chakra and his repressed emotions.

The girls were getting closer, but he didn't give any indicator that he noticed. He even turned those eyes off so he didn't have to anticipate it. His blood began to leak instead of well against the wound, the drops splashing around him in a nearly perfect circle as he jabbed, spun, jabbed, spun, even as he heard the gym doors open and two sets of feet walking in.

He felt Ren's tug on their mental link. _"You are being more tacit than usual."_ Tenso didn't deign a response necessary, his hands beginning to throb a bit as he kept it up. Koen could split rock with fists; Raizen could cut through one with his chakra control. Shiden could drown people by touching them now. He was just...the summoner and the healer. He was the fucking Final Fantasy White Mage, and he was pissed about it. Sure, he had the power of a God on his side, but of the four, but he was weakest in many ways. He needed to grow stronger. He needed to be like Koen, like Shiden, like Rai.

"Tenso?" a voice reached his ears. It was timid and unfamiliar. He paused mid-spin to look, his hands throbbing with pain that his focus had tuned out. It was Ino, and she was looking at the area around his feet. He looked too, saw the blood. It didn't bother him, for some reason. His own blood was unimportant. Seeing a comrade's blood spill was another story entirely.

He tried to put on his smile, but it didn't feel right. It was smaller, more like Ren's for the moment. It didn't reach his eyes at all, and those were a bit blank. "Hi, Ino, Sakura. Nice to see you two again."

Sakura was looking between his hands, the post, and the floor, where the blood literally was in a perfect circle on the inner side; not a drop was closer to him than two feet, his arm span, away, and the blood seemed to be perfectly smooth on the interior splatter zone. "Is this how you always train?" she asked, looking a bit bothered now that she noticed the many cuts on his hands.

"...No. My training usually consists of healing and summoning. This is the first time I've seen the Gentle Fist in action, so it's the first time I've seen what it is supposed to look like and do. The makeshift style I made for myself is...well, since I made it, I personally forbade its use."

"...Why would you make a style, just to make it taboo to use?" Sakura was again taking the lead in this conversation, while Ino just seemed to be staring at the boy's weirdness.

"Because as soon as I used it on a living being, they died slowly and painfully. Until I can master the Gentle Fist, I won't use it on anyone but those who wield chakra beasts...like myself and my brothers. The beast within is the only thing that can save a person from bleeding out all of their chakra...that, and the point closing abilities of the Gentle Fist." He turned back to his post, but paused as Ino spoke.

"You should do something about your hands. They're going to get infected like that."

He glanced at her. "Thanks to the God, I'm immune to a lot of things. Thanks to my healing chakra, I can seal them up before it gets too bad."

"You still only have so much blood in your system. Losing too much can weaken not only your immune system, but your chakra abilities, as well."

Tenso raised an eyebrow, and the girl blushed a bit. "You're quite knowledgeable on health. Have you ever considered becoming a medic-nin?"

She seemed hesitant. "I did, but I really want to go into Intelligence, like my dad, and like every other ninja in my family. It's tradition, you know?"

"...Between Ren and me, we didn't exactly like tradition. Not all of them, anyway." Since she wouldn't stop staring at them, Tenso channeled his chakra to the palms, slowly healing them over again. "I was...misunderstood a lot growing up. 'Having an imaginary friend' in the Hallowed Grounds was against tradition. You interacted with family and the other clans. You didn't interact with someone who wasn't there. The first time my mother saw me talking to Ren in the mirror, she beat me." He turned from the looks, his eyes turning white as the muscles around them tensed up. He resumed training.

"I was resented by my cousins, because I was so weird, yet I was the Main House son." His palms were beginning to dent the metal without the unfortunate pain of cutting his hands. "My parents were worried about their reputation, so they made me keep it a secret...until I stopped sleeping, I was constantly around places, and I was acting like two different people. Then they called in the Fifth Clan's Mentalist. He dug through my head, found Ren. I was taken before my God for Judgment; my parents were going to kill me." He could hear the wooden pillar within the metal post begin to crack as the girls gasped in unison. He could feel his pupil beginning to force a reappearance, so he cut off the Byakugan and closed his fists, thinking of how Koen exerted frustration.

"You wanna know the irony?" He rushed on, ignoring the fact that he had an audience, as if he were simply talking to Ren and the response was at thought speed. "The God fucking _chose me_! I was waiting for him to choose a suitable death for me, the Fifth Clan member entrusted to sealing him on standby. As soon as I looked up into his main head's eyes, he laughed. He said that he would not _dare_ pass judgment on the perfect vessel for him!" He could feel the pillar crumbling with the metal impacting; was this what Koen felt like all the time? God Chakra had begun replacing his own in each blow, so his hands looked like they were encased in iron orbs.

"They sealed him inside of me, Body and Soul. It was unheard of, as he was the largest of the Gods. I would have been devoured by his raw power, if it weren't for Ren. We each held a piece. When we joined up with Shiden, he had become whole again, and his power was flaring out of us randomly. Not even like it is now, with emotion, but just whenever it became too much on my body to hold back. I hurt people. Shiden fixed me. He told me that my goal should be higher than him, twice as high as anyone else. Under his teaching, I quit being a freak in my own eyes, my own body." His hands fell away, his breathing shallow. The post was bent and warped, but he hadn't destroyed it like Koen had.

The girls felt that he was done with his rant, his anger suddenly evaporating; the marks around his eyes disappeared, and the God Chakra faded. His hands were no longer scarred, either. "I apologize for letting you see that," he said suddenly, smiling brightly. "It's been on my chest a long time, and Ren's had the same emotional stress. Letting someone who isn't in the exact same boat hear it just...lets the pressure go. Is there something you wanted?"

Sakura started grinning again, and Ino began blushing once more. "She has something she would like to talk to you about. I was just making sure she didn't chicken out before she got this far." She waved, and was gone like lightning. Ino glared after her frienemy, but said nothing for a moment.

"...Would you like to take a walk?" he asked, eyes going to the post and the blood around his feet; he didn't want her seeing what he put himself through to get better. That scene he had just made was bad enough. She probably was afraid of him, now...

Since he didn't have his Byakugan activated, he didn't see her eyes looking him over while he looked at his own work; it wasn't pretty, but it was strong, the opposite of anyone's initial impression of the boy. He had power, and this proved that he wasn't afraid to work at getting it.

He had put a faster showing than Sasuke in his fight, and he had kept Temari alive when he could have left her to die. He was multitalented, even if it seemed the talents were split between the two personae very well. Plus, as a Mental User herself, she was fascinated with the concept. If it weren't for the continual references to this God thing, she would've insisted upon using her Mind Transfer Jutsu to see what it was like in his head.

"Yes," she said suddenly, breaking his negative thoughts. "A walk would be nice. Let's go." She grabbed him by the hand, noting the lack of scarring immediately, and began to practically drag him away from the scene; Sakura was probably spying already, waiting to see what her friend would do.

Tenso was the one blushing now as she forcefully hauled him along. "Uh, where are we walking to?" he asked, which was a paraphrase of his thinking, _'I feel like a reluctant leashed dog at this moment in time.'_

"We're walking to dinner," she answered, slowing up a bit so he could finally right himself and get alongside her. "Since you decided to blow off the walk idea to train, you're treating me."

"Er..." _"Shiden has a tab at that one place she likes. He set it up that night with the eating competition."_

'_Uh, Koen blew his tab eating in that competition.'_

"_Then he paid it off, right?"_ That settled it, Tenso figured. "We're going to the barbecue place, then?"

"Nope," she answered a bit too cheerily. "You're taking me _there_." She pointed, and Tenso could hear his wallet scream like a little girl...or it may have been Ren. It wasn't that bad; in fact, it was a five star restaurant, so it was the best. And that was the problem...or was it?

'_...We have Shiden's credit card, right?'_

"_We have Shiden's whole wallet."_ "Not a problem," he answered with a sweat-drop and a grin. _"Yeah, as long as you can work on your own enough to pay him back."_

'_I can pay him back in blood and sweat.'_

She beamed at him, just a tinge of pink around her cheeks as she pulled him into the building. It took them a little while to be seated, then the menu...Shiden was going to kill him if he ever found out about this.

She ordered a couple of expensive things, he ordered a couple of expensive things, and the man just accepted it all with a smile, thanks to that ninja headband. It was too much a sign of superiority to Tenso; a division of class. Everyone was a ninja in some capacity back in the Hallowed Grounds, even if it was just basic training.

"So," he deadpanned, still smiling. "...Anything interesting happen since the end of the Second Test?"

"Well, I received some lovely flowers from my mom's store, which I found a bit redundant," she said with a light smirk. "However, they were lovely, and the boy I got them from seemed like he could be a good guy behind the misunderstood past." The smirk got deeper the darker his face turned. "Then he had to be a jerk and run off to train instead of going on a walk together like he said he wanted. You might know him, actually."

"Not likely," Tenso answered, trying to be nonchalant. "That guy would have to be a major idiot not to want to spend time with you."

The tables turned for a moment, and she was blushing again. "Y-yeah, you're right," she said, smiling a bit. "He was an idiot. I'm so glad I'm spending time with you instead, though..."

"Though?" he echoed as he raised an eyebrow, looking curious.

"W-well, I have something for you..." She noticed the grin on his lips, and she snapped, "Close your eyes, idiot!" He did as ordered, still grinning. He heard her get up, move around, and set something down; these tables were huge, emphasizing the "adult" idea. Only when she was seated back in her chair and she said, "Okay, you can open them," did he do so.

The daffodil with the blue ribbon was sitting in front of him. "S-so," she said, blushing and grinning equally, "where would you like to go after this on our date?" Tenso blinked, and she continued. "I picked dinner, you get to pick the activity. That's how my folks' date night works."

Tenso felt three sets of gears working in his head, then he heard something from his God that he never thought he would. "_**Dude. You are dating a Mental User."**_

"_...Wow. She just beat you at your own game, and you had no idea you were playing."_

'_...The fuck just happened?!'_ "...I suppose we could...go to a movie? I'm not...This is my first date. Ever."

Ino grinned a bit more. "Well, a movie is fine. Haven't you ever just hung out with someone before?"

"...My brothers, as we call ourselves. But all we ever did was movie night at my house. My folks had the biggest TV in the Village, and Raizen cooks like a professional. I might coerce him into taking a side-job at Ichiraku."

Ino wrinkled her nose. "Ramen is fattening."

Tenso grinned. "Whatever you say." He wasn't going to pick a fight over something as simple as ramen. If she tried taking it away from him entirely, he would change that.

It was her turn to blink; she had been expecting a fight. "Well...okay, then."

By using the tactic of agreeing with her opinions when she was right, and giving his own opinion only when asked, he managed to avoid a fight through dinner. He paid with Shiden's card, making a mental note to start working on getting money to pay that and the movie off. Then she led the way to the theater, where he let her pick the movie; he wasn't good at deciding, and he could let her choice tell him something about her he didn't know. It was a romantic drama, but he wasn't sure if that said she was a hopeless romantic or just a passionate girl. Psychology was Ren's thing, and talking to him during the date seemed rude. They could compare notes later.

It was when they were inside the movie, sitting near the back, that he started feeling nervous. Sure, he was a year younger than his brothers, but their birthdays were earlier in the year, so he was still eleven when they turned thirteen. He was still eleven now. Ino, he was sure, was twelve, like most Genin in their first year outside of the Hallowed Grounds. Worse than the age thing, he had _no_ idea how dating went. He and his brothers didn't really watch the girly stuff on TV, and the girls of the Village were all either completely comfortable with the guys and so put all of them in the "Relative/friend zone," or were completely disgusted by the thought of dating what were essentially distant cousins and were on the hunt for men from other places all the time. All in all, he didn't know what to do except hold her hand, and when the night was done, see if she scored him well enough to earn a kiss.

_That_ was something he was very aware of, no matter how wrong it was to say out loud: Girls graded guys like teachers graded tests. The more right questions and actions one got, the higher the score, and the more likely the girl would let the guy get away with the next point of romance beyond wherever they were. As a new couple, the "good-night kiss" was his target goal.

The movie was slow and sappy, and there was so much mush that Tenso thought he was going to be sick, but Ino seemed to love it, so he would endure. The perk of not moving was that she could lay her head on his shoulder and he could put an arm around her waist, and they could just sit and enjoy it to their varying degrees. At some point in it, Tenso tried using his Byakugan to see everyone else, but the things some teens and adults did in public were more than his eyes wanted to see. He cut the power off immediately, and that was his biggest struggle of not getting up and going to puke.

When it was over, they got up and walked out hand-in-hand, and he avoided eye-contact with most of the people he had seen in the movie. He insisted on walking her home, and she didn't fight it; why argue with a gentleman? On the way home, he finally touched upon something. "Hey, Ino? Would you like to train with me while Shiden's gone? I'd like to spend time with you, but when I get into training, I lose track of time sometimes."

She glanced at him quickly, a bit of worry on her visage. "I'm not...quite as strong as you, you know."

"Training isn't solely about fighting against one another, Ino. I could teach you new techniques." He grinned a bit. "I could teach you medical jutsu."

Her eyes widened. "You...you could?"

His eyes seemed to pierce her soul for a moment, like Ren's always did. There was the resemblance to the other side. The smile, however, is warm and genuine, a striking and frightening offset. "Ino, I could teach you more about what you can do than any teacher you have. You just have to be willing to work for it."

The image of his hands, torn and bloody, passed through her mind. "...How far are you willing to go to succeed, Tenso?"

He looked her dead in the eye. They stopped walking, light from a streetlight falling from directly above around them. He noticed how warm her hand was in his; she noticed how soothing the cold of his hand was around hers. "If I had been given a chance to save my Village by giving my life, I would have given it. If I had been given a chance to save a single person's life by giving my own, I would have given it. But I have no intentions of dying until my goals are completed. I have a lot of them." As he said the last sentence, he blinked, and the piercing gaze broke; he was back to smiling like Naruto, like he couldn't care less about his problems or worries.

She saw that that predator lurked just behind those eyes, that even this lighter personality had the capacity to be a lethal shinobi. If he was willing to teach her, what was there to lose besides sleep and weight? "...Okay, I'll train with you."

He smiled lightly. "My training starts at six. If you are up before sunrise, you can eat breakfast with us. Rai will make too much because Shiden's not here, and one of us will eat it for second breakfast at about nine." She looked at him like he was crazy, and he gave a nervous laugh. "Or, you could tell me when you want to wake up, and I can show up like a good new boyfriend with breakfast."

She smiled lightly. "That's more like it. You're learning, cutie." They continued the walk in relative silence, Tenso smiling like his luck had finally gotten him where he wanted to be. Ino had a more subtle smile on her face, and even in the dim light he could see that she had a faint blush upon her cheeks. Maybe she was more new to this dating thing than he believed. Or maybe she only had bad ones.

Once they were at her door, he grinned again. "Well, good night, Ino."

She nodded, looked back to make sure no one was looking out of her windows, then quickly leaned in and kissed his lips. "G'night, Tenso. I usually wake up at nine, but give me some time to actually wake up. Let's call it nine-thirty?"

"Uh-huh," he said, eyes wide and a little dazed.

"Great. Um, night!" She opened the door and disappeared behind it as red as a brick and grinning like he normally did.

"Uh-huh," he said again, still dazed. It took him about thirty more seconds before he snapped out of it and turned to walk home with the biggest, most idiotic grin he had ever had on his lips. Somewhere above, he heard a happy, girly squeal. That was when he started running, so her father wouldn't have anyone to _interrogate_ about this sudden action by his daughter.

"_She likes you. She really likes it when you compliment her and her opinions. She doesn't like it when you make even an unrelated note about her fear of weight and work. She likes the little pushes you make."_

'_And the movie?'_

"_She wanted to see how mushy you were, how much romance you could take. The fact that you sat through it with her was something she liked."_

'_So, as long as I don't push her too hard too fast, and keep away from her bad habits until she's ready to accept help, she'll like me?'_

"_...Yeah, that is a way of summing it up."_

'_...I can do that. I want to help her. She is a good person. I want to make her a great shinobi, too.'_

The two personae remained quiet the rest of the way home; they, surprisingly, were home last. Koen and Raizen were already there, eating and recovering. Tenso ignored them as he climbed into bed and covered his head, and they were fine to let him sleep. Despite it only being about eight, with how big his grin was, he was probably emotionally drained. He'd recover by morning, but anything more right now would likely sour his mood.

As he fell into sleep, his dreams were peaceful, of held hands and soft lips in the light.


	17. Mental Check Part 1

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 17: Mental Check, Please Part 1

_The two personae remained quiet the rest of the way home; they, surprisingly, were home last. Koen and Raizen were already there, eating and recovering. Tenso ignored them as he climbed into bed and covered his head, and they were fine to let him sleep. Despite it only being about eight, with how big his grin was, he was probably emotionally drained. He'd recover by morning, but anything more right now would likely sour his mood._

_As he fell into sleep, his dreams were peaceful, of held hands and soft lips in the light._

Rai was up first, as always. Ever since he could remember, he and Shiden woke up simultaneously at three. Even without his brother there, he didn't want to break routine. Early to bed, early to rise, meant he got the hottest water for his shower and cooking.

He cleaned up, got dressed in his street clothes, and pulled on his apron. It had no logos or symbols, save a tiny black heart his mother had penned right over his real heart one morning when he was polite while cooking; normally they argued like cats. "This is proof you have a heart, even if it's tiny," she had teased. "Let it breathe once in a while, and it'll grow. Then you can give it to some pretty girl." He didn't like the thought of giving an internal organ away to a woman; he had seen what his mother did with them, and with only her actually in the household to gauge female personality by, he was rather disturbed.

"_...I miss her,"_ he thought to himself, starting the stove up and beginning the process of making breakfast. Today, he was going with omelets and pancakes. Koen liked using the pancakes like bread to make the whole thing into a giant sandwich. When he was around, Shiden made his into a breakfast burrito with a pancake tortilla. Tenso just ate whatever was put in front of him. Rai...he didn't like his own cooking, so he'd probably make a small pancake for himself and then head to Ichiraku.

By four-thirty, the tiny apartment had the wonderful scent of cooking eggs, sausage, onions, tomatoes, and pancakes filling it. Tenso was next up, and he simply went in, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair. He showered every other day, unless he had really gotten dirty. Sweat didn't count to him, deodorant and new clothes got rid of that smell.

He checked the sky before changing; it was gray skies all around, but nothing dark yet. They might be getting a light rain or not. He grabbed his combat coat just in case, strapped his senbon needles to his wrists, and tied his headband around his neck. He kept looking through his bags for something, but he seemed to keep giving up as if remembering whatever it was probably had been destroyed with the Village. Then he would go back to it, like an OCD kid looking for a lost toy that he didn't lose. He'd be like that until breakfast.

Koen was last up at four-forty-five. He was in the bathroom until five, when Rai served up three plates of breakfast and put the rest into containers and those went into the fridge. Koen had his hands wrapped up to the elbow, and he was wearing only his vest up top, which meant he was going to be training shirtless once he got to wherever he was going to train. He only did that when he was planning on making his body _burn._

As he joined the table, all three bowed their heads and made a silent prayer to their God of choice, be it their own or not was up for debate; Koen thanked Zaphos for giving Rai the cooking skills, Rai thanked Hissorius for not letting him get pissed off when the first egg tried to bring shell with it, and Tenso thanked all the Gods for the fact that their hosts were alive.

Then breakfast began, and conversation with it.

"What are the plans for the day?" Koen asked, acting as second-in-command. "Mine are probably obvious, but I'm heading back up the mountain."

"I'm going to study my scrolls more, maybe take a walk, but I'll still be in the Village. Lunch will be here if anyone wants it."

"I'll be here studying for a while, too, but then I've got to go meet Ino. She agreed to train with me while Shiden's gone."

"Is she why you were gone so long?" Koen asked, grinning.

"Fuck you is why I was gone so long," Tenso answered, glaring a bit.

"So she's not putting out?" Rai joined in the teasing, smirking lightly.

"I'll kill you both in your fucking sleep."

"Too late, I already poisoned breakfast." Koen choked on his sandwich, gasping a moment later when everything sorted itself out. "Just kidding. But seriously, good for you, brother. Your life is officially the most normal, congrats."

"Sakura was looking for you yesterday, Koen," Tenso said, again making the de-facto leader choke. For some curious reason, Rai also choked at the comment.

"Why would she want to talk to me?" Koen gasped.

"Dunno. She referred to you as the big guy, so either she wants the D, or she wants you to teach her how to punch like a girl." Tenso jumped back from the table, his breakfast already done, as Koen tried to jump over it to get him. Rai punched him back into his seat, hitting him in the forehead so as to not start more arguments by removing a tooth or breaking a nose.

"Koen, sit the fuck down and eat your fucking breakfast, or I'll get the frying pan out. Tenso, good burn, but don't tease Koen before he's had his coffee, or I'll have to hurt you for making him break something. We don't own this shithole, we rent it. If any holes get in the walls, I'll have to put a few in you." Rai was definitely Shiden's brother, but he didn't like taking the lead unless he had to. He was content with following Shiden in that regard, but he wanted to be his equal. He wanted his opinion to matter just as much as Shiden's, his word to be just as heavy with power and position. Rai could earn respect. Rai could earn fear. He just wanted to be in the same position.

'_Fuck, my back hurts,'_ Shiden thought, his eyes only able to see his knees thanks to the fact that he was stuck in an air duct, and had been all night; his arms were pinned to his sides, his hands unable to touch thanks to them being stuck between shin and duct corner. At least he had gotten some sleep, so he figured things couldn't get much worse, until he felt his stomach and the duct shudder. Apparently they had been dumb enough to glue it together...and the heat had loosened the glue up considerably. The people who built the ducts had probably never planned to have a hundred-thirty pound ninja stuck in them all night. As he felt it give way completely and the weight was replaced with the mysterious floating feeling of falling, Shiden had a few more expletives to think. _'Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...Oh well, this will be interesting to put in my report to the Hokage...'_

Koen set off after dishes were done, while Raizen and Tenso sat in opposing chairs and read over their scrolls in silence.

Out of the Village and to the training grounds the Serpent's host went, climbing the mountain without activating a Gate this time. He needed to work his body, not his powers, today. He was going back to basics.

At the top of the mountain, he tossed his vest aside, the weight to it causing it to fall and crack a rather large rock. It wasn't terrible, but it was just his combat vest. His training vest had been left at home, and it weighed enough to leave behind craters when he walked with it on. He cracked his knuckles and started looking for a large enough rock. When none supplied themselves, he used an Earth Style technique from the scrolls that turned the whole mountain to stone; sometimes God Chakra was good for training, even if it was bad for sparring.

He found the center of the mountain, and began gathering his own chakra to his fists. With a slow inhale, he reared his left fist back. With the calm exhale, he drove the fist down and sent cracks scattering across the surface of the stone mountain like it was made of glass. With each full inhale and exhale, he would punch, and the cracks would grow larger, the amount of force increasing with each punch. One hundred punches in, he had cracked a mountain. He used his God Chakra to seal it, and began again.

Rai and Tenso weren't exactly the best study buddies. Half an hour in, both were getting bored of the material, no matter how helpful it really was. There was only one cure for them: the gym. They weren't exactly sparring, but they were using living test subjects as opposed to destroying poor pillars.

The training from the day before had helped Tenso, as he aptly used an adapted Gentle Fist to disable Rai's arms and one leg before he could dodge very far. Since this was his dream, to train in the art of the Hyuuga, Rai was more than happy to let himself get healed and used again and again. The more he used the Byakugan, the stronger he felt his eyes getting, despite the strain he could also feel from extended usage. After a few tries, though, Rai was ready for the assault, and he began dodging with far more success and frequency.

"How do you keep coming back?" Tenso asked as he healed the marks and golden chakra erupted form the sealed points. "How do you keep getting better?"

Rai glanced at him, raising an eyebrow and looking quite like Shiden. "Look past the pain and find a solution. Is that not a Hallowed Grounds standard?"

Tenso winced. "Yeah, it is. Shiden reminded me of it with the first day of training."

"How does the style feel against real flesh and bone?"

"I tried it on Shiden with partial success, but on you, I feel like I'm getting a better grasp of everything. Thanks for the help, brother."

"Heh. Anytime." Rai smiled a bit, getting to his feet. He saw the sun over the Gate through a window, and glanced at the clock. "It's almost nine, you should go get ready for training with Ino."

Tenso got up as well, nodding. "Alright."

"Take a shower, brush your teeth again, and make sure you're wearing your lucky whatever."

Tenso blinked, looking completely confused. "...I'm sorry?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like he did with Ino. And Shiden. And everyone, really, he just seemed to cock his head to the side when he was confused.

Rai grinned a bit. "Sorry, it was something my mom used to say when I said I was going somewhere she knew girls would be."

"Right...Well, Mom, I'd love to stick around and chat, but I'll be taking that advice and running with it." He did run, heading straight for the apartment.

Rai sighed, looking up to the ceiling of the gym, waiting for his limbs to regain full feeling. _'Zaphos?'_

"_**Whelp."**_The giant chimera didn't seem to be in a bad mood, per se, but he wasn't ever really in a _good_ mood.

'_Why didn't you pick my mom as a Host?'_

"_**Because I chose **_**you**_**. Ask as many questions in as many ways as you like, but there is no answer. I saw something in you that I felt was right for me, for the Village, and for you, too."**_

Raizen chuckled a bit. _'I'm sorry I asked. I just...I see where I fail, and she succeeded.'_

"_**She succeeded at dying."**_

'_...You're a dick.'_

"_**I'm a **_**godly**_** dick. And you are the little asshole that I am currently jammed inside."**_ Raizen decided to end the conversation right there, for he could not think of a comeback that would top what had just been done, and to argue further would just make him look pathetic.

Tenso took the older boy's words to heart, showering, brushing his teeth again, and since he had nothing "lucky," he simply reheated breakfast and set out for Ino's house. Her parents weren't surprised to see him, oddly enough, but that may have been because the girl was actually up and ready. They seemed to approve that he brought her a meal instead of assuming she would make something or someone would cook for her; initiative was always a plus in the eyes of a parent. She ate quickly, then they set off for the training grounds, holding hands as they went. He could feel two pairs of eyes digging into his back, and sure enough, at a rearward glance, he saw the parents watching them all the way to the end of the block.

Once they rounded the corner, he felt the gazes disappear. They didn't talk much as they walked, though once they were out of the Gate, they let go of each other's hand so they could get through the trees to one of the training zones that she had frequented with Asuma-sensei and the rest of her squad. Unlike the zone they had taken to, this one was in perfect condition. Only a few places had scars of battle on them.

"Okay, Ino. Normally, when I'm training with my brothers, I would start with a sparring match. Even if I'm the support, I need to know how to defend myself on difficult missions." She nodded, looking a bit nervous. "I watched your fight with Sakura, albeit with a bit less attention than I should have. Instead of a full sparring match, I want you do attack me. Do whatever you can to hit me, and all I will do in return is block or parry. I won't strike you in any way. If it makes you more confident, use a kunai or other weapon. I'll stick to my hands."

Ino seemed even more hesitant now, but she carefully drew her kunai, and darted in, slashing in a rather standard and repetitive way until he caught her wrist and lightly tapped her forehead. "Yeah, that's usually what I expect to happen in a fight," Ino mumbled, looking away.

"Don't look at it as a failure," Tenso admonished lightly, grinning all the same. "Think of it as a challenge to do better. Sakura, for all her faults, knows how to throw a mean right hook." He held up his right hand, palm flat and facing her. "Punch as hard as you can." She swung hard, but his hand still caught hers without so much as a wince, and she barely pushed it back. He grinned again, but not as brightly. "Okay...that's alright. Now, I want you to channel chakra to your fist as you do it. If it helps, imagine something that brings your emotions to a storm of turmoil."

She looked down for a moment, frowning as if in concentration. He was about to try encouraging her more when her fist tightened, she reared back like Koen did when he was delivering punishment licks, and when her fist hit his hand, he was certain his whole hand would have broken if he hadn't been using chakra to deflect the majority of the blow's force. "_Much_ better!" he said with a laugh, shaking his hand a bit. "That's what I want you to try hitting like from now on. Back to our spar. Come at me with all you have, I'll defend."

The two returned to position, and the girl rushed at her new teacher with confidence, something fiery in her thoughts as she took that first swing.

Koen had gotten tired of smashing the mountain five hundred punches later; the crunch of boulder was never, ever as satisfying as the crunch of bone. When he came back into town, he had his vest back on, and he was ready for second breakfast. It was a good thing the chef of Ichiraku never seemed to sleep. He thought he saw Sakura down one of the streets, but he avoided catching the gaze of whoever it was; Sakura was cute, especially with the shorter hair, but she was not his type. He didn't want a girl who seemed to idolize a statue for walking and talking.

That was how he saw Sasuke Uchiha, as a living statue with a goal programmed into his mind. He behaved like a programmed soldier, and Koen would know, for he had seen them aplenty back in the Hallowed Grounds. His only emotion protocols were 'brood' and 'seethe'. Koen wanted to rip him open to find the circuitry and reprogram him. Or just punch him in the face once. That would be fine.

It was these kinds of lovely thoughts that led him to Ichiraku. Naruto wasn't there, oddly enough, but Koen was happy about that. He hadn't even gotten his order in yet when Raizen sat down beside him. "Looks like I found where our food budget is going," Koen said with a grin. "And it's not towards the house food."

Rai snapped his head to the side, glaring. "Lunch is already waiting back at the house for you, so you don't have to waste your precious money. And the fridge and cupboards are fully stocked I spend my money carefully, since Shiden and I didn't exactly trust the bank." He unrolled a small scroll and summoned a pouch from one of about ten seals in a row. "One mission's pay is stored in each."

"You only started ten missions ago?"

"I had six or seven of these in my room before our last mission."

"Ouch."

"Whatever. I'll treat you." The two made their orders and began eating the moment it was made available to them, both rather silent after the inadvertent bringing up of their gone home.

A distraction came in the form of the real Sakura showing up at the ramen shop. Rai waved her over, and Koen tried to look invisible, which failed miserably. "Koen, hi! I've been looking for you."

"Sakura," he said gruffly, as if being rude would make her go away instead of more determined. He should have seen how she behaved for Sasuke.

"That was a great fight you had in the preliminaries."

He adopted an overly cheery grin like hers, his tone mocking when he said, "Yours would have been great, if someone had won. Then we would have an even number of combatants in the Third Test."

"Hey, that's not cool. I like having two proving rounds," Rai said.

"You could have had a proving round and a real fight," Koen countered, voice back to normal.

"Anyway!" Sakura interjected, trying to get the focus back on her; she was annoyed they weren't at least as attentive as her two idiots. "You are right, I didn't do well. And, I'm...I'm tired of having to stand back and watch the guys protect me, get stronger than me. I want to learn how to be as strong as I can be. You guys were already considered Chuunin in your own Village, right?"

Koen crossed his arms, looking doubtful. "Yeah, but surviving a fight with a giant chakra god doesn't make you worthy of being a Chuunin. Up until you are put into the Box, you are watched. Your character is studied. Your flaws are exposed and either overcome or properly covered. You have to be _ready_ to become a Chuunin before you are put into the Box." She noticed how they both tried not to twitch every time the single-syllable word came out.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, but she pressed on anyway. "Then, please, teach me. I want to be ready the next time I take the challenge."

Koen considered her as he ate his ramen, humming a bit. "You get one day. If you fail to adhere to my standards, I will refuse to teach you further until you prove ready."

"I can teach you, too," Rai said, smiling lightly. "Koen and I have supporting styles most of the time."

"Even during this test, Shiden has had us train similar styles because we are too focused on the close combat. But, I suppose teaching you couldn't hurt. It's not like you're afraid of pushing yourself. You have Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja, on your side; you have two continuously growing teammates; and you have nothing to lose but weight, time, and those ridiculous things you normal people call self-esteem and conscience."

She looked a bit confused. "Why would I want to lose my conscience?"

"Because fighting without any kind of block except the sheer, raw emotions you feel without it is the only way that I can teach you. You have to constantly be on an extreme of feeling. That is how I fight, that is how Rai fights, it's even how Tenso and Ren fight, though they play more defensively than we do, so, his emotions are usually more controlled or guarded until the final blows."

She nodded, smiling a bit. "It sounds like a good way to train. When can we start?"

"...After Shiden gets back. I'm going to be doing some personal training until then, stuff that I don't want to share with anyone." Koen was getting annoyed, and Rai was catching it, but he didn't get why yet.

"It's alright, Sakura. I'll train you in the interim."

"And after Shiden gets back?" She asked the other boy.

"I'll try, but my brother intends to work me over the most, so if you wish to do so, it'll have to be early. Any time from five to noon is when I can help you."

"And I'll be working with Shiden from eight until noon, so I could pick up where he has to let off. You know, if you pass my little test, that is."

"And why can't you test me now?"

"Because I don't have the patience right now." He stood, looking at her with eyes that held no mercy or sympathy. _Now_ Rai realized what was up. "I'm not going to be as nice as Sasuke. I'll say it out front, you annoy the _fuck_ out of me. Your squealing like a lovestruck pig after a boy who will never return your affections as long as he has that stick shoved up his ass has gotten on my nerves since the day I saw you two. Right now, if I tested you, I would be making you look like Kiba did when I was done with him, and then demanding you do the same to me. I have a short fuse, and I like to keep it smoking. Snapping in a fight is just what Shiden wants from me. However, I must develop restraint so I don't maim or kill anyone in this Test. That is what I am going to be doing over the next several days, developing restraint."

"You think six days will be enough?" Rai poked, grinning at the almost hurt look on the girl's face; she would need to develop a thicker shell if she wanted to train with Koen. He wouldn't have to work on her skills so much as her feelings before she got into his hands. Of course, he wasn't sure he wanted her in his hands. Jealousy towards Koen was natural, but not over girls...or was that normal, and the jealousy over more kills the weird one?

"Six or seven, it could be enough. If I don't have to keep the fuse smoking." Koen began eating quickly, each bowl being grabbed and poured into the first the moment it was served up.

"So back to your rock hill?" Rai asked as he finished his first bowl and slowly moved to his second.

"Back to my rock hill. After you treat me to lunch." Rai got a sour look on his face as he realized what Koen was up to, but said nothing.

"Maybe Tenso will appreciate my cooking."

"If you can't appreciate it yourself-"

"I eat my own cooking!" Rai snapped. "I just don't trust it. I want my own cooking to be good, so I am automatically a biased judge!"

"And when we all tell you your food is good?" Koen decided it was his turn to poke and prod.

"I don't like eating my own cooking. Is that such an issue with you?"

"I'm venting! It will help in the long run!" Koen was grinning again, and now Rai was the one with the smoking fuse. Maybe misery did love company.

Before too long, Koen was heading off, and Sakura was left with a sour-mood Rai. Still, he smiled for her as he finished his meal. "Would you like to begin your training now?" he asked as he stood. She had not eaten anything from the shop, and that was okay to him; if she ate, she'd probably want to wait.

"Sure!" She jumped up beside him.

"It will be a quick training today, because I need to be home early to prep dinner. Even if they don't eat it, I like making meals every day."

"You should work for us," Teuchi, the man behind the counter, spoke up. "With just my daughter and me, we are beginning to get a bit slow, because we're finally getting a lot of business."

Rai hesitated. "That...sounds like a good offer. I'll consider it." He then grabbed Sakura by the wrist and led her out of the ramen stand, heading for somewhere within the Village proper that he had been curious about: The hot springs.

Tenso was breathing heavily, his arms getting a bit numb from all the blocking. Ino was on her hands and knees, struggling to get back to her feet. She had burned herself out a bit with all the swinging, though thanks to her new teacher, at least she could defend herself if someone tried to attack her. And better still, she could fight back pretty damn hard.

She still couldn't counter most of the in-close moves that he used against her, more often than not a simple tripping maneuver getting her onto her back before him. If he were Rai, he would probably have made jokes about it by now, but he was kind and polite. "Your technique is great, Ino. It's your form that you need to adjust now. We will work on that tomorrow, however. You are spent, and unlike me, you can't just refill it with another kind of chakra.

She may have had excellent chakra control, but she had no reserves whatsoever. Tenso intended to change that, and make her a real ninja, not just a gimmick in a combo. He didn't use those words at her face, but he had heard of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, and he knew exactly what it was, a gimmick of varying success that could barely work. He was going to give her skills so she could not only support her team in other ways, but also so she could stand on her own. That was what a Chuunin was about, after all; leading, not standing in the group.

"What...else...can we work on...today?" She asked, breathing still heavy. She was covered in sweat and dirt from where he had knocked her down. His arms, beneath the coat, were covered in bruises both minor and major.

"There really isn't much else we can work on with your chakra burnt out. Most of my training skills and methods require you to have at least something in reserve."

She groaned. "How did you guys do it before you became hosts for these Gods of yours?"

"...Look past the pain and find a solution. It was one of those little oral traditions passed down from person to person. I believe it started with Shiden's great-grandfather on his father's side. He was an Arashi, and the Host of Shiden's God, Hurricana. If what my grandmother said was right, he said it after the Fifth Clan lost their God, Oblivion. It has become Raizen's mantra over the years. Koen lives by it without trying, because he enjoys pain. And Shiden looks past the pain of others to find his solutions." His arms became awash in steel-gray chakra, the bruises under the coat sleeves fading.

Ino was fascinated by the color, the powerful sort of aura, his chakra was casting off. She reached out and ran her fingers across it, not expecting to feel much of anything. Instead, the moment her hand touched his arm through the chakra, they seemed to be pulled from the real world.

Tenso stood next to someone who looked identical, down to the last tooth of his smile, except that Tenso himself looked different; While Ren still had the short haircut that had been forced upon him by his mother for sake of regulation, just like Shiden's short hair and Koen's too, Tenso's hair was like Rai's, a bit longer, a bit less tidy. It was an appealing look on him. He was also wearing his clothing more haphazardly, his shirt only half-tucked and his sleeves rolled back so his hands were visible. Ren's hands were hidden in the sleeves of the cloak.

"Welcome, Ino," Tenso said with a grin. "I honestly expected you would see this because you tried to force your way in."

"However," Ren continued, his grin turning a bit more subtle, just a light smirk, "our God, Chaindorias, has decided that _he_ wishes to speak to you. We only ask that you listen, not that you obey. Even we don't follow everything he says."

She blinked, looking around. The ground below her was metallic, yet it was warm. Almost throbbing, like a heartbeat. "...Sure, I'll talk to your God," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Alright," both said in unison, walking to her side, turning, and kneeling in perfect unison. They didn't tell her to kneel, or tug at her to make her do so, but she felt it would probably be wise to do so anyway. She noticed Tenso grinned a bit more as she did.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and Ino realized that the ground _was_ the God. He was massive! A pair of heads appeared before her, each large enough to engulf her house, easily. **"Greetings, Ino Yaminaka. I am the God of Metal. I am Chaindorias."**


	18. Mental Check Part 2

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 18: Mental Check, Please Part 2

"_...Sure, I'll talk to your God," she said, trying to sound nonchalant._

"_Alright," both said in unison, walking to her side, turning, and kneeling in perfect unison. They didn't tell her to kneel, or tug at her to make her do so, but she felt it would probably be wise to do so anyway. She noticed Tenso grinned a bit more as she did._

_Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and Ino realized that the ground was the God. He was massive! A pair of heads appeared before her, each large enough to engulf her house, easily. __**"Greetings, Ino Yaminaka. I am the God of Metal. I am Chaindorias."**_

Ino stared up at the God's two heads with increasing trepidation; maybe this was a bad idea, after all. But she had no idea how to get out, or what she had even done to get there. "Uh...hi," she squeaked, hating that she sounded so weak...but he was huge and rather intimidating.

The hydra laughed, the sound echoing around them; she realized the eight sets of blinking lights in the darkness beyond her view were other heads. Ten in all. As she came to the realization, the world seemed to grow lighter, and she was now staring at the ten heads as she stood upon the strange dome that was its body.

"**You have no need to fear me. Tenso is endeared to you, and Ren has no qualms with you, so I have no need to dislike you. I simply have an offer for you."**

"Er...an offer?" She glanced at the two boys, but they seemed just as confused.

"**Your body, like Tenso's, is a viable host for my powers." **All three humans tensed up for a moment.** "If you are willing to try, Tenso could give you a bit of my chakra. It will be enough to fill up your reserves, and continue training."**

"And what kind of repercussions would there be for such power?" she asked, still looking wary.

"**If done too much or too often, you will likely become like the last host of Hissorius, the Serpent within young Koen."** Again, the two became a bit tense, though Ino was not sure what that meant. **"By which, I mean that you may become addicted to the power and possibly kill yourself by overusing it. I am only offering you this power once, though, so that you can go through the process of increasing your reserves yourself. Keep it, even, so that you will have something extremely useful in reserve if you are ever in trouble."**

She looked between the two. "I trust you, Tenso, but can I trust him?" she asked softly, as if he wouldn't hear. The beast laughed at her anyway.

"You can," Tenso said, voice measured and slow. "But, he definitely has an agenda for offering it to you. If you are a viable host like he says, he may be trying to birth another of his 'children,' the Summons that I use. There are eight total, and each was born from a fragment of his power. Or, he could be planning on making you a follower of the Pillars. Who knows with a being as old and powerful as he?"

Ino considered this as she looked up at the God; he was immensely powerful, and if he was as old as the conception of a Village, that was very old indeed. "...What kind of guarantee can I get from you that this won't be some part of a plot against the Hidden Leaf later?"

"**I swear upon my Soul and Body, both sealed within this boy, that all I wish to do is help you unlock your full potential by lending you a bit of my power. If I have any ill designs, may this mark upon my heads banish me to the darkness until my Rebirth."** He bowed the largest pair of heads before her, and the same seal that was upon Hissorius' head flared upon both, the Fifth Clan's Sealing Jutsu.

"That mark binds him to his word. It was placed upon him, and he had to swear not to drive me to destroy my home or the people within. He had to swear loyalty to many different things. The first thing I did when I discovered I could come here was release him from a lot of it, but not all." He shrugged.

"...Alright, I'll take the power," Ino said, looking scared but determined.

"**Then return to the physical realm, and allow the boy to put his power into you. Do not fear the power; fear your thirst for it."**

The two blinked in unison, and they were back in the training field, her hand on his forearm, which was no longer generating God Chakra.

"You know, now that we're out from under his many eyes, I could just use my regular chakra the same way. I'm not as good as Raizen or Shiden, but I know how to tune my chakra to another's frequency. Or, rather, Ren does. I can only do it with healing chakra, and that won't fill the tank. Patch it up, yeah. Fill it, no."

Ino blinked again, smiling a bit. "I think that might be safer for now. Maybe one day I'll take his deal seriously, but for right now, I don't think I want to have that kind of power just sitting inside me."

Tenso closed his eyes, and when they opened again, she could instantly tell that it was Ren in control.

"Hello, Ino," he said in a polite tone, though the eyes held nothing friendly...or unfriendly, thankfully.

"Hello, Ren." Ino seemed a little awkward; how did one talk to a side of their significant other that knew everything she did with Tenso, but she knew next to nothing about him? "So, can you do it? Like Tenso said?"

"Yeah, I can do that just fine," he said, smiling lightly as he rotated his hand to take her forearm like she was holding his. "Push a bit of chakra out of your hand and into my arm." She frowned in concentration, but did as asked, pushing a few wisps of chakra out. "...Hm, it feels like...Earth-Nature. We are not particularly good in ninjutsu, but our chakra types are Earth and Fire, so we're compatible." He didn't even seem to notice the blush on her face as he took her other arm in the same way. "This is going to tingle, and not in a good way."

It felt like she had eaten too much sugar, then sucked on a lemon; her teeth were practically vibrating out of their sockets as the power poured in. It was a slow pour, but the grade of the chakra was so strong that it just made her feel like she was being overwhelmed. It wasn't real God Chakra, but it was potent nonetheless. If this was average, she was almost afraid of what Raizen or Shiden could do, let alone what the real God Chakra would feel like.

When she regained her other senses, she found that she was kneeling on the ground, her whole body limp; she had only remained sitting upright because of his hold on her arms. "What...was that?" She asked hesitantly, staring up at the boy who was now grinning apologetically; it had been a few minutes, she was sure of that, for her knees were beginning to hurt from the gravel beneath them.

"That was pure Spiritual Chakra. Our body is a bit like yours, not the most muscular or fit, so we have to make up for it by having a lot of spiritual chakra." It was Tenso, the grin was proof enough. "We just need to get stronger physically, so we can have just as much Physical Chakra. That's one of my little goals, to match my spiritual chakra with physical chakra. Then, I might try using my family's true techniques. Hydras are related to the clan, but there was a whole Metal-Nature that they kept close to the chest. But, nothing escapes Shiden; he claims to have scrolls detailing the techniques."

Ino blinked. "How does Shiden have all this knowledge?"

"Well...Shiden and Raizen have two clans to inherit from. One side is Storm Style, which Shiden uses in tandem with a personally-made genjutsu designed to drown his opponent or make them think they've drowned."

Ino swallowed. "And the other?"

"The other is called Blood Style. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Shiden is a genjutsu-using thief and he loves ripping off knowledge as much as he loves working for a good cause."

Shiden let out a sneeze, holding his breath as he waited for the sleeping guard to snore again. _'Is someone talking about me?'_ He drew his kunai, slipping behind the man and drawing a line across his throat with the next sigh inward. The next exhale meant a quick stab to end it. _'Oh well, time to find those scrolls.'_

Tenso returned to his defensive stance. "Time to continue sparring, Ino. Moderate this time. Equal amounts per punch. Don't just shove it all out, because we're on a use limit. To make it more interesting, aim for critical points. I want you to try and bring me down hard and fast."

She took a steadying breath, got to her feet, and began channeling the chakra to her hands. The glow this time was brighter, and she seemed more calm about the whole ordeal. If things like that God were what Tenso worried about, her problems seemed insignificant. She took another breath, then pounced at the boy, ready to fight without mercy.

Sakura seemed concerned when she noticed the hot springs ahead, but Raizen stopped at the canal before it, full of peacefully flowing water. "Tell me, Sakura. Do you know how to walk on water?" She shook her head a little nervously. "Do you know the theory, at least? Have you walked up a wall yet?"

She nodded at the last two. "To walk up a wall or tree, you need to channel a specific amount of chakra to your feet and hold it there. Too little and you get no traction. Too much, and your steps may break the surface you're climbing or propel you from the surface."

"Very good, but what about on a constantly shifting surface, like water?" Rai asked, grinning lightly.

"With a surface like water, you need to generate a constant amount of chakra from your feet. It is more exhausting than walking up a wall or tree, and it requires more focus and control."

"Full points," Rai said, and the girl grinned back. "So, how deep are your chakra wells, Sakura? How much chakra can you hold at once?"

"Eh...not that much," she admitted. "I'm great at control, but I've got a lot of physical work to do."

"Which is why you wanted Koen to teach you," Rai finished for her, looking like he took no offense. "But I'm just as good of a teacher for this, more so, even. I can give you a bit of a boost, right out the gate. Give me your hands." He held his own out, and she took them. "This will sting. Inside. A lot."

It felt like the inside of her skin had been covered with static electricity, then dragged along the next layer, so all of the static discharged at once. She was still on her feet after the dosage of power, but she could feel her muscles tensing up, her whole body on edge. The amount of adrenaline that the extra power put in made her want to punch him in the face for not warning her more ahead of time...so she did. The blow shocked him and made him stumble, but it didn't seem to be that effective otherwise.

"That was not bad," he said, popping his neck. "You might wish to channel chakra to it, next time. I've got too much experience with adults beating me senseless for your fists to hurt." She looked apologetic, despite his insult. "Now, let's try the walking on water." He walked to the edge of the canal, dragging her by the hand that she hadn't hit him with. At the edge, he released her hand, and walked out. He dropped for a moment, then his feet met the water, and he was standing on the surface. He walked out a ways, smirking back at her. "First lesson: Hit me. You have to take at least two steps on the water. I won't fight back." She stared at him in disbelief. "You know the theory, and you're seeing it in action. If you have walked up a tree or a wall before, it is going to be a simple thing."

She gritted her teeth, and jumped. At first, she sank up to her knees, but with enough force pushed outwards, she leveled out on her feet and ran forward. This time, she did as he suggested and channeled chakra to her fist as she swung it. When it hit him square in the face, he flew backwards, cracking the wall behind him with his impact.

"Now _that_ is more like it," he growled, his golden eyes locking onto hers with a primal look in them. The next moment, he was gone...until she felt a palm on the flat of her back. "Next, we're going to see how well you can defend yourself. Keep my hand off of your back for ten seconds. You have five minutes."

She instantly turned to smash his face again, but he was gone. She felt the hand on her back the moment she stopped turning, and spun the other way to strike. His hand reappeared the moment she stopped moving. "You're relying on me letting you see me. Fight without your eyes, without looking at me."

"How am I supposed to do that?" She complained.

"I happen to like parables and similes, so I will use them. Be like a Hyuuga. Break the flow. That's the only hint I will let you have."

She continued spinning for a bit, to little avail; the moment she thought continuing to move would work, she felt his hand and weight on her shoulder, and he was flipping over her to slap the small of her back. He was fast, but he was mostly letting her wear herself out.

'_Break the flow..._ She looked down; the canal's water was flowing gently beneath their feet, light ripples forming around the soles of her shoes. Rai's face was reflected in the water, a light grin on his lips. She'd found it. She spun one more time, punching straight down as she did; the chakra and force behind the blow caused the water to spray in all directions, and when she felt the spray along her neck that said he had moved again, she swung her leg back, sideways, and up, hooking her heel just below his chin and sending him upwards...right into the bridge; their little dance had moved them downstream a fair bit. He fell back to the water, slipping below as his vision went blurry; she just barely had time to grab his wrist before he sank to the bottom and she would have to dive after him.

With a bit more of the reserve energy he'd given her, she ripped him out of the wet embrace of the water, and he started coughing immediately. "That," he gasped, "was...the _best_...kick...I have ever not seen." She giggled a bit, and he pushed himself fully to the surface, still gasping and coughing up water as he grabbed the edge of the canal.

She helped him out of the canal and climbed up herself as well. "I'm sorry," she said, looking a bit upset as he rubbed the top of his head.

"Don't be. I wish we had a camera, that kick was awesome. I didn't expect it at all, and the bridge was an added bonus. You sure you didn't aim that? That felt perfectly planned." She blushed as he praised her skill at nearly killing him, a little grin crossing her lips. "To top it off, you showed excellent chakra control and plenty of physical strength. I think you could have won that match if you had put a little more effort into it. Or maybe you just wanted Ino to be your friend again, so you let it be a draw."

Her grin disappeared and she glared. "I-I did no such thing! She was just as good as me, that's all."

He was still grinning. "Well, whatever happened, you would probably win a fight now. Although, Tenso's training her, so it could also be a much harder fight to win." He shrugged, walking back to the edge. "Come on. I want to keep training. Now, we spar...or, rather, you practice hitting me, and I'll practice putting you on your back gently. Back on the water." He pulled his shirt off, revealing the myriad of scars and muscle that he hid most of the time. His arms had plenty of little burn marks across them from electricity getting too hot or out of control, but nothing else there; on his stomach was the sealing mark; and on his chest, he had several old stab wounds; memories of fighting his brother without that ultimate power behind him followed each one.

Sakura was staring as he hopped onto the water again, assuming a defensive combat stance. "You gonna join me?" he asked with a smirk, and she shook her head to snap out of it, hopping back out onto the water. She was still running hot with _his_ energy, and for some reason, it felt right, the power he'd given her. She nearly shivered as she let it flow into her fists again. With the glow on, she was rushing him, swinging straight down now that she knew his trick.

In Tenso's mind, he wanted to find whoever taught basic Taijutsu at the Leaf Academy. He wanted to beat that person senseless for making an entire generation of non-Taijutsu-focused kids retarded. He had seen it in the fight between Ino and Sakura, but he hadn't thought much of it; now that he thought about it, however, every single Leaf Village Genin that wasn't focused on a special style of Taijutsu-Kiba's Man/Beast Style, Lee's Beast of the Leaf Style, even the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist Style-was absolutely pathetic in the area.

Ino's blows now had power, but they were all over the place. She didn't know when to throw a hook or a straight, when to change stance or even use those shapely legs...of course, that distracting thought got him punched right in the face, but it still wasn't enough to do more than leave a minor bruise that he could heal in a second or two.

The second spar they had after her meeting with the God and sharing of the chakra, she didn't touch him, and he ended it by tapping her forehead again, like he had in the first little interaction. "Who taught you Taijutsu?" he asked, his eyes about as serious as they had been when he demanded to know who had made her sensitive about her weight.

"Uh, Iruka-Sensei. He's one of the teachers at the Academy."

"...I'm going to kill him one day, I want you to know that. He taught you no form, no style, no control. I know how to strike the same place every time, no matter my stance or what type of strike I use. Koen used to fight like you did, before he discovered Dragon Boxing. Raizen used to fight like you did, before he learned the Arashi Seven Stances and adapted it for use with his God Chakra's cloak." She was looking a bit insulted. "I used to fight like you did, before I started making my own style based on my incomplete Byakugan. So, I'm going to teach you a different style of fighting. Something that you can adapt and call your own. It won't be soon, but until then, I'll go back through the basics with you, bring you up to at least being able to deal with me." He grinned lightly.

"You think I'm going to be able to fight on your level. In a month. With just basic Taijutsu mastery." Her eyebrow couldn't get much higher in skepticism.

"You have potential, Ino. In a month, if you're willing to commit, I believe you will be among the best at the next Exam. And if you keep it up even after the month, I'll gladly keep teaching you, so that in six, when the next Exam comes, you will be unstoppable, no matter what they throw at you." The confidence he spoke with was just overwhelming to Ino. He believed that much in her...or his own skill. Either way, he was willing to teach, willing to put in time and effort to help her get better. That, in her mind, was already a few steps towards the Best Boyfriend Ever award.

"So, what do we do first, Tenso-Sensei?" She asked with a suddenly bright grin.

Tenso chuckled, grinning back just as brightly. "I like that, but we'll save it for when I'm a Chuunin, okay? For now, we're going to train your focus." He shed his coat, revealing the marks she'd left all down his arms from his blocking. Again the steely chakra covered the wounds and made them disappear, some even flowing up and wiping off the bruise on his face. He held up his palms. "Time for strike training. No chakra, just punches. Hit the same hand as many times in a row as you can."

She grumbled a bit. "Will this really help, Tenso? This sounds like busy work."

"It's actually not. Proper aim is one of the most important aspects to a ranged fighter like you. If you are accurate up close, it translates to the distance."

She seemed reluctant to believe him, but she took her stance, noticing the snort of disapproval he gave; she was more reluctant to keep doing this now, because she knew whatever it was she was doing wrong, it would be fatal if he were really fighting her. Still, she took a breath, and started swinging.

Sakura pulled herself from beneath the water, Rai helping her the moment she reached for his hand. This was the fifth time this had happened. Even with the water helping her track his motions, he was faster than she could react at times, and he did, indeed, gently put her on her back every single time. She hadn't hit him more than three or four times per bout, and they were all blocked and deflected hits.

She sighed, readied her stance again, and Rai stopped her. "Hang on...I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize it. Your stance is terrible. What style is that?"

"Er..." Iruka-Sensei hadn't exactly named the basic Taijutsu stances and strikes that she had been taught; the rest was adapted on-the-go, so she really didn't have a specific stance or form.

"...I am so sorry. I had no idea that I was teaching a complete novice. You have good form and style when you do things on your own instincts. But your starting stance...it's why you haven't gotten a hit on me yet this time." She blushed a bit. "Now, I'm going to suggest something to you, since you are like me in size and flexibility: Learn kickboxing. I studied my father's clan's personal Taijutsu configuration, which covers seven different situations: Attacking, defending, closing distances, in grapples, on the ground, in the air, and the last is for my kind, God Hosts, when one is in a state of extreme chakra storage."

"I would like to learn that," she said, thinking of how helpful such an adaptive style would be.

"It'll take a while to get the moves down, but I believe you would benefit from it. For now, we're going to give you a fighting style all your own. We'll call it instinct fighting. Stand how you want, and move how you want. Don't restrict yourself to anything you've been taught. If you see an opening, like the kick, take it."

"...I like the way you fight," she said with a grin, backing up a bit more and closing her eyes. How did she feel comfortable standing for combat? With a kunai in her hand, but that option was soft, weak. She seemed to slide through several motions, trying to figure out how she felt most comfortable standing. Eventually, she settled on a boxing-like stance, but with her legs a bit looser, ready to sling a kick at any moment.

She observed Rai's stance, which revealed more than she realized: with both hands loose and held close to his body, he was able to deflect quickly; with his body sideways to her, he narrowed her strike zone and gave himself a leg to recoil back on; with his legs at such a relaxed pose, he could slide them to any other stance without issue, either retreating or counterattacking with a single shift of his weight.

He was a natural at fighting, and she felt like a complete novice; but she felt better in a position that she could deliver the most solid punches from. Maybe he would teach her a better position, maybe not. It was all training and progress.

She took a breath, channeling more of the chakra that made her feel so strange and powerful, and darted forward with a new confidence, a more powerful swing, and still a filling of someone else's chakra.


	19. Like Family

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 19: Like Family

_She took a breath, channeling more of the chakra that made her feel so strange and powerful, and darted forward with a new confidence, a more powerful swing, and still a filling of someone else's chakra._

Ino went through the basics of punching and kicking, and she even got through a few grapples-she was especially good at the guillotine hold and arm bars-before Tenso's stomach decided to complain that it was feeding time; they had gone through lunch and the sun was almost setting, so he was definitely in a hungry mood. "Okay, training is done," he announced, patting the stomach gently. "It's time for us to eat, cool down, and study theory. Tomorrow, we'll begin crafting your personal fighting style, and we'll also see about teaching you some Earth Style techniques."

"This is a lot of work for a few days," Ino replied, panting a bit.

"It's not as bad as it could be. Combining the meal and study time to it, we will literally have done a day of Hallowed Grounds school. We started at the crack of dawn, however, so our study time was right after lunch, and after that we got to go home. And that was when _personal lessons_ began. Parents, older siblings, aunts and uncles, whoever your parent/guardian chose to give you wisdom for two hours, you had to listen to everything they had to say." Ino grimaced at that. "Yeah, it sounds bad, _experiencing_ it was worse. Then I graduated, and everything calmed down, until I was chosen by Chaindorias."

"I was curious about that...Was it a voluntary thing, him being put inside you?"

"Yes, completely and totally. Ren and I both wished to be the Host, so we could serve our Village better. Sure, because of my unique situation, and the fact that I-like Shiden, Koen, and Rai-took both Soul and Body of my God into me, I was treated less like a Pillar and more like a freak. I didn't regret my choice, just their choice to be cruel. Then Shiden accosted me, insulted me, teased me...and offered me a spot on his team after I put a hole in his stomach." He shrugged a bit, smiling. "So, shall we head back to the Village?" His grin was a bit nervous as he held his hand out for her, but he was still in a good mood.

She smiled back, nodded, and took his hand, walking back towards the Village in a happy little bubble.

Sakura was breathing heavily, her chakra wavering; after she had finally gotten the hang of her new style, he had insisted she keep going, push herself to the edge of exhaustion. He was still going strong, and besides the bridge incident, she hadn't gotten the drop on him again. Maybe now that he was expecting her to fight unpredictably, he was making himself a lot harder to hit; or maybe she really had just surprised him with a lucky kick, and he wasn't going to let her surprise him again.

Whatever the reason, the pinkette's muscles were burning, her breathing was heavy, and she was soaking wet from him throwing her, taking her feet from beneath her, suplexing her, all different kinds of takedowns that did little more than dunk her beneath the water and make her more angry.

She realized why he was doing it the next time she managed to hit him, a solid blow to the shoulder when he swooped in to flip her; unlike a lot of people, when she got angry, she got more focused; it was like some secondary thing in her, probably the inner voice that raged a lot, was helping her think, focus, track his movements. She operated on a whole different level when she was pissed off.

He still put her on her back, and she still took his hand to pull her up and out. "I'm...beat."

"I know. I expected you to burn out after using up all of my chakra, but you kept going. It's an impressive trait, and you will have a larger pool of your own next time."

She glanced at him, biting her lip a bit. "Are you going to give me another jump start tomorrow?"

"Nope. If I kept doing that, you would eventually burn up. Unless you know how to store it properly, save it, and use it, excess chakra is dangerous." He shrugged. "And, on top of that, this was just to increase the size of your personal tanks so you could have more to use. You'll feel it tomorrow."

She sighed. "Okay. That felt really, really good, though. I've never felt chakra like that."

"That is what my chakra does. It adapts to the consistency of your own, but it is quite pure. Our teachers taught us the meditation techniques to purify the Gates, so we always get the purest flow of chakra."

"Purify the Gates?"

"The Gates are not just points in the body, they are all attuned by certain states of mind, and the powers they provide are diluted by certain stresses and emotional issues. If you can maintain inner peace fairly well, you don't have to use the methods that often. Shiden is quite adept at it, since he maintains a fairly aloof nature."

Shiden was, for the first time in a long time, completely and utterly pissed off; the last book he had been looking for, and it had been burned in the fight. He had saved it for the most part, but there was a good bit of the back end missing. "...I'm going to take my stress out on you," he told the sole surviving guard casually, as he pulled the man's arms taut behind his back. He had no way of knowing, but Sasuke had done the same exact motions in the Forest of Death. A bit more pulling, and there were two sick popping sounds; the shoulders dislocating. A bit more twisting, and the man was whimpering in pure agony; a hard throat jab had taken away his ability to talk for a little while.

"It's nothing against you," he continued in a conversational tone, letting the dead weights drop and pulling his head back by his hair. "Well, it kind of is, you fucked up that book on the Yuki clan. But, you are also the last survivor of this little debacle, and I have a lot, a lot, _a lot_ of fucking stress built up. I was trapped in an air conditioning-slash-heating vent for a whole night. Do you know what that feels like?"

The man shook his head rapidly, whimpering more. "Well, I would tell and show you, and I have five more days to kill in which I could torture you to all kinds of insanity before ending your miserable life, but I think I'll let you go into blessed sleep with just one thought: A God killed you, and he didn't let you go quickly."

"So, he's a bit like Kakashi-Sensei, only serious when he needs to be?" Sakura asked, smiling a bit as they climbed off the canal.

"No, more like he's only emotional when he needs to be. Most of the time, he's deadly serious, no emotions. Like a robot. When it's just us four, he's always loosened up, at least a bit. He said he was going to try and be less uptight in public, but, as his twin, I can honestly say it will be a trial for him."

She nodded, stretching out a bit as they walked. The sun was warm on wet skin, and Raizen could feel the static building on his body from sweating; she made him keep his top speed up the whole time they had been "dancing," and he was ready to eat. "Where would you like to eat? I'll treat you today."

"Well, after listening to Koen, I'm a bit interested in _your_ cooking."

Rai hesitated, then nodded. "Alright, I'll cook you dinner. Anything in particular I should make, or avoid making?"

"Just don't be like Naruto and consider ramen a meal for any and every occasion."

"That's just sad. There are millions of better foods than just ramen." He was considering what to make for her, humming as they walked down the street side by side, when he heard shouts of anger and rage. Sakura seemed to hear them, too, so the two shared a quick glance then took off to find the source.

It wasn't that tough; Naruto seemed to be going through some kind of training with a white-haired old man. The blonde was getting more and more frustrated about something, as he kept slapping the ground and something tiny would appear, flopping like a dying fish, before it was banished. "...I'm tempted to send you down there to show him how improvement is supposed to be," Rai said, wincing as the tadpole was summoned yet again. "He's getting worse, I think."

"...Let's go," she said suddenly, grabbing him with more strength than he thought she had left, and she dragged him away. He instantly knew he'd touched a sore nerve; she was doing this because she wanted to stand beside that idiot as an equal.

"I'm sorry," he said instantly, though he wasn't sure how sorry he really was. "I didn't think. It's a bad habit of mine, actually. I always jump into things without thinking."

"Like teaching me," Sakura said, glancing at him.

"No. I wanted to teach you. You're a good person, Sakura, and I heard the honesty in your voice when you said you wanted to improve." He smiled. "Plus, I needed someone sane to interact with. My brothers are definitely _not_ sane."

She giggled a bit, then the two fell into a rather relaxed silence until they reached the apartment complex. "Hey, this is where Naruto lives."

"Yeah, he recommended the place to us. It's tiny, but it's dirt cheap, and until we can really get our feet beneath us and get some missions done, it is the best we can afford without blowing our budget."

She seemed a bit dubious as he led the way up to their apartment, and opened the door. Tenso and Ino were sitting on the tiny couch that Shiden had "found," watching their "recycled" TV. They were holding hands, but doing nothing else.

"Welcome back," Tenso said, his eyes not leaving the TV, but the tense muscles around his eyes were indicator that they didn't need to. "There was nothing to eat in the fridge that didn't require using the stove, so we decided to wait."

"You know, one day you're not going to live with me. What will you do for food then?"

"Same thing I did back in the Hallowed Grounds, show up for breakfast anyway."

Rai had no response to that, so he shrugged. "Make yourself at home. Koen will be in any minute, so I'll whip up something quick but good."

"Ramen?" Tenso called into the little kitchen.

"No," the twin called back. "Probably soup or stew, but not ramen."

As predicted, Koen came in when the meal was about halfway done, and the girls were slightly surprised how open the three boys were with each other, how relaxed they seemed to be in the presence of family; Tenso chatted with Koen while the boy grabbed his clothes for a shower. The girls seemed a little awkward when he simply went in, locked the door, and took his shower, but Rai and Tenso didn't seem to notice, as they talked instead about the girls.

"So, Ino's training with you," Rai said, chopping an onion rapidly.

"Yep, and Sakura's training with you. We're not even Chuunin yet, and we have students. Shiden will be amused," Tenso replied. "Then again, I'm dating my student." Ino blushed a bit, but a grin was on her face as Sakura stared.

"And? You liked her from the moment you saw her. Literally, you bought flowers from her just to be able to give her something nice as a token of a first meeting." Sakura's eyes went from Ino to Tenso to Rai, who seemed almost bored compared to how lively he had been during the training.

"Hey, I had other plans for those flowers, too. I just happened to give her about half of what I bought." Tenso grinned lightly as he squeezed the girl's hand. "So, what have you been teaching Sakura?"

"Just some Hallowed Grounds basics. How about you?"

"I've been trying to teach her how to kill us, but she's not liking that idea too much."

Rai laughed. "Well, as long as she studies and practices, the practical examination should go fine." He finished mixing in the last ingredients and put a lid on his cooking pot. "Speaking of Exams, what are we going to do if any of us actually get paired in a fight? We can't exactly go all-out without the crowd getting vaporized, and I don't want to just throw the fight."

Tenso looked pretty serious, which was a statement in itself. "We have to go without the God Chakra. Have to. If it's an emergency, then that's another thing, but it is a last resort. We are kind of addicted to power already, we all know it, even Shiden admits it. We can't resort to it all the time, though. It'll burn us out, like so many in the past."

Raizen nodded, leaning against the counter as he watched the pot of food cook. "This is the hard thing, just thinking of how much I can do without the God Chakra. We won't have time in the fights to gather nature chakra, so our chakra pools are restricted to what we bring. Which means we'll be eating big breakfasts and proper lunches, and we'll be on the Expansion pills for the rest of the month."

"I've got enough of them for that long. We could even include you girls in the regimen, if you would like," Tenso suddenly turned to the girls, who had been listening intently.

"Well, what exactly do they do?" Ino asked, looking a bit nervous, while Sakura was more eager at the thought of training with more power.

Rai answered, "Food pills have a variety of effects, generally increasing stamina and physical chakra pools as a given. The Expansion pills are something we worked together to whip up. They give such a boost to your physical chakra that it feels like you're a chakra beast yourself sometimes, and they provide such cleared senses that you can generate a great amount of spiritual chakra, too. They're chocolate-coated, which covers most of the taste."

The bathroom door opened and Koen stepped out, fully clothed. "The only thing you do taste is chocolate and mint."

"That's because Rai was obsessed with making sure the recipe was perfect," Tenso teased, Sakura and Ino glancing between the three as they spoke up.

"You would rather taste kale and coconut?" Rai snapped, pointing a ladle at the two others. Koen visibly flinched.

"...I'll pass on the kale and coconut. Forever." The fact that the two ingredients were in the mix bothered him badly enough that he didn't like eating them at first. Rai had done his job well, however, and Koen never tasted coconut, and so, never had to go on a murderous rampage.

"Good. Then shut up and enjoy the wait, dinner's almost done."

It was a strange procession after that, Koen and Tenso watching some murder mystery tripe while the girls caught up and Raizen finished preparing the meal and setting places for everyone. When they ate, the girls took note of them paying respects to the Gods in silence. They chatted over dinner about the different possibilities of the Third Test match outcomes; the three would end up facing each other if they all won, and they had to restrict themselves to their human capacities for the fights. Koen was fine with this, as he was the most finely tuned of the trio for human capacity fighting.

They also discussed the training of the girls, though Tenso and Rai avoided explaining what they had already taught and what they would teach, but Koen could glean enough from the two to gather what was going to be taught. He suggested Shiden teach Ino as well, since he would soon be teaching Sakura, but Tenso shot that down; Shiden wouldn't want to train a fourth person over the next month, and even if he did, that would be unfair, because Sakura wouldn't be getting a genius to teach her. Koen popped him upside the head for that one.

Then it was time for the girls to go home, and Koen laid himself out on the couch, closing his eyes and relaxing; Shiden had gotten three cots as well, but the couch was infinitely more comfortable. He would fight for that sleeping spot.

When the two lovebirds returned, the three cleaned up together, had one last cup of decaf to help sleep, and then called it a night, wishing Shiden the best, wherever he was.

Shiden sighed as he walked away from the burning mansion, smiling as he pulled on a cheap hawk mask he had bought on the way in. His eyes were clearly visible, even if all that could be seen were glowing orbs of red. The Sharingan took some effort, sure, but since his were able to deactivate, he didn't tire quickly.

He looked over the bag of goodies he had picked up on the way out, and whistled a happy tune as he took to the trees. His father was right, he may have been sociopathic; he didn't really feel happy unless someone's blood was covering his hands. The kleptomaniac tendencies weren't his fault, he just liked things that no one would miss unless they looked, and corpses missed nothing, so everything had been up for grabs in that place.

The Hokage would likely be pleased with his work; the mission had said terminate with extreme prejudice, and that poor last guy had probably felt hated against for how badly he was maimed before death.

Oh well, Shiden hated everyone equally...except maybe his brothers, he hated them a lot more and less than everyone else at times. And maybe Temari. He could probably not hate her so much; she was tall, pretty, and fairly strong, what wasn't appealing there?

He took one last look at the burning building, snorted, and disappeared into the trees.


	20. Finally!

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 20: "FINALLY!"

The month of training passed by faster than any of the boys could have believed. Between their own training and the girls', Raizen and Tenso were exhausted by the end of the day, every day, so they slept well and time went faster. Koen had tried Sakura on the day after Shiden returned, just like he had promised. Even with Rai's teachings, she was destroyed with his first 'test'. He refused to teach her.

The three trained with Shiden every single day that he was home. He left on several missions over the month, always coming back with more trinkets and scrolls and books. The Hokage no longer requested more than 'Mission Accomplished' from his mission reports. Apparently the gory details were a bit too gory.

Tenso had learned several Earth-Style Taijutsu techniques, passing them on to Ino after he could perform them properly. His Byakugan was at least as good as Hinata's now, and he was beginning to have the diagram of the Chakra Points mapped to memory. He was first up on the day of the Test, for he hadn't slept; Rai had made a batch of God Coffee for in the morning, and one for Tenso to work out his nerves. He always had them before a major assignment. Raizen and Ren knew better than to try and ignore it or try and stop him. He was doing pull-ups and push-ups in alternations, his eyes closed and the muscles around them tense and tight.

Raizen had changed the most, all thanks to his brother. All five elements were his tools of use now, though he was weakest at Earth and strongest at Lightning. He had covered a great deal of ranges with his new skills, but for the tournament, he was only to use the basics. Nothing extravagant, but there was plenty of flash to each move. The Chimera loved showing off, even if Rai didn't. He was up at the same time as always, making breakfast and ensuring the coffee was perfect. He said nothing to Tenso, and Tenso said nothing back. Each had their own mind to be lost in. No need to make the pool of worries bigger by merging them.

Koen had mastered the basics of both Magma and Meteor Styles, but his greatest improvement had been declared absolutely and completely forbidden for life: He had channeled God Chakra through the Gates. According to Shiden, who was the sole witness, he had broken the time barrier, or had damn well felt like it. The speed of each blow he delivered seemed to be instantaneous, and it felt like it had broken something inside of him until he recovered. Shiden was awake before Koen, so Koen was last awake. He ate with the others, but none of them were speaking. Shiden withheld his own words so that they didn't have to talk to one another, and they could get into the mindset of being opponents.

When they had eaten, cleaned up, and all were ready, Shiden took them out for a bit of special meditation and prayer. They had claimed the training field that had been destroyed as their own, fixing it up whenever they got out of hand, and the mountain now made entirely of stone was no longer getting broken daily. They knelt in a compass pattern: Shiden sat with his back to the north, Koen to the east, Tenso to the south, and Rai to the west.

"Oh, Pillars of the world," Shiden began, his voice far more reverent than it ever was when he really spoke to the Gods. "Grant these three the strength, the will, and the drive to do what must be done and take another step along the way to adulthood. Though the Box is long gone, we shall honor the rule inscribed upon it: Failure is not an option. Though our home is long gone, we shall strive to the perfection that it demanded. We shall pay for your strength with hard work, sweat, and the blood of our enemies." As always, the Gods themselves replied not; that would ruin the surprise of if the prayer worked or not.

They stood in unison, and began walking. "Today is the day," Shiden finally spoke to them. "You will become Chuunin before this is over. Time is of the essence, so don't make the matches drag on and on. Break whoever you need to."

"FINALLY!" Koen shouted, running ahead. Rai chased after him, growling something about not letting a frying-pan-coward beat him, while Tenso just relaxed with his oldest brother.

"We're going to destroy our opponents, Shiden. You know this. Why are you so tense?"

"Didn't you hear what Gaara tried to do to Lee?"

"Koen only just forgot about it before he went to bed; he was really dying to rip the sand out of his gourd and shove it down his smug throat. Rai wanted to fight Neji so badly, too."

"And you?" Shiden asked the youngest Pillar. "Who was going to be your goal for this Test?"

"It was a tie between Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke. If they weren't going to scrap one another in the first two rounds, I would have gladly taken our brothers apart for the chance to fight the others. But, alas, I will only get to fight one, and that's if that one doesn't lose any other matches."

"That's ambitious, wanting to fight the two Prodigal Clans of Konoha _and_ the Kyuubi."

"You fought four _gods_ and survived. I wanted to fight three potential heroes and do better."

The two chuckled as they caught up with the others at the arena's entrance; it was large, and everyone was trying to get in. The three went off on their own to the competitor's entrance, leaving Shiden to stand in line like the rest of the world.

As they stood with the others, the three Hallowed Grounds shinobi instantly noticed that Sasuke was not there. Nor was the bandaged one called Dosu. Raizen was more pissed off than he let on; if he got another "bye" win, he would be wrecking the bug boy with extreme prejudice.

The Kazekage appeared, and exchanged words with the Hokage. After a minute, the Lord Third Hokage stood, and spoke in a voice that filled the arena. "Thank you, everyone, for coming to the Hidden Leaf Chuunin Selection Exam! We will now start the main tournament matches...between the 10 participants that made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end!"

While the crowd cheered, the three Pillars were doing math. Either Sasuke or Dosu wasn't coming to their match...and when the Examiner whipped out the new bracket sheet, Raizen swore under his breath; there went his first match. Oh well, at least...Then the three noticed it. Their side of the board was unfairly so that they would _have_ to fight one another if they won. Had they done that themselves with bad luck? It couldn't have been.

"Hey, what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked the Examiner.

"Anyone who doesn't show for their match gets an automatic forfeit," the man said, voice almost bored.

Tenso glanced at the puppet man with narrowed eyes, while Rai observed the bug user. Koen just watched the crowd, trying to pick out Shiden from among the thousands of faces. He found Kiba and Hinata, he found Ten Ten, he even found Sakura and Ino, but he couldn't see his brother. Then he noticed Rai waving in a direction, and there was the Jonin, grinning and waving back. He had looked over that section ten times!

"Alright, the first match is Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga. The rest of you, get to the viewing area."

The three watched the fight in awe, up until the curse seal reveal; one of them had Hyuuga branch house genetics, and all three had extensively studied the Hyuuga in class.

His training in the Byakugan and Gentle Fist was nothing compared to the real deal, Tenso had realized during the Hyuuga showdown in the preliminaries. Now, Neji Hyuuga was beating the tar out of the Kyuubi's host. This was what he had paid to see...not that he had paid, but this was why he had come along to the Village...no, he had come along to train, period. The Hyuuga clan was a minor goal compared to his major one: Becoming a Hallowed Grounds Jonin by surviving all four Gods. It was the only thing worthwhile as a goal now, short of "rebuilding his clan," as Koen had put it, but Tenso had no idea what he was talking about. Their clans were as good as dead unless they bred like rabbits, and Tenso wasn't sure how he liked that idea.

Koen himself was watching with avid anticipation, waiting for something to happen that none of the others could really fathom. He was watching Naruto, of the two combatants. The blonde was dealing a blow here or there, but he was never going to win with _that_ effort. Even the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu did little to help him. Neji was a machine as he methodically destroyed the boy. His Rotation technique was impressive, something that Koen desired to learn when this was over. Such a skill, even the basics of knowing how to use it, would be extremely advantageous.

Raizen watched the fight with more intrigue than the other two; both were his friends, after all. The whole time, he listened to the conversation going on, too. Naruto was unwilling to falter and Neji was unwilling to let him gain any ground. Then, Neji used the Sixty-Four Palms upon Naruto. The blonde coughed up blood as soon as the blows were finished, his body refusing to work for him. Raizen knew the feeling, but he was thrilled to see it in action. Tenso, next to him, was watching in rapt attention, but Rai was more focused on the reactions; he needed to know what the pain looked like in order to fake it later. Just like he had stored Hinata's fight in his head, going over every blow, every moment where Neji had destroyed her physically.

Then Neji and Naruto started talking about destiny. Neji revealed the Curse Seal, and Raizen gripped the railing tightly, his hands glowing with golden chakra. He knew the reasoning behind the mark, he knew that humanity was the cruelest race of creatures the gods had created. He knew how to remove seals, certainly; the Shippuu clan and the Fifth Clan were the two great sealing clans of the Village. The problem was that such a seal required the genetic material of a Main House member, and he couldn't exactly go up to them and demand their flesh as a meal. Their corpses of the previous Heads were interred in the Leaf Graveyard, but they were protected. Most valuable members of the Leaf were sealed in cement to keep their bodies from being taken or used. It didn't help all the time, just most.

Naruto was shaken, but he wasn't willing to lose just because of that. His life sucked, too. Rai knew both sides well enough that he pitied them. Empathy wasn't his thing, but he was feeling it. He hated it, because seeing the two of them made him remember things he really, really didn't want to. Naruto: the unloved, the alone, the outcast of the Village. Neji: the misunderstood, the loner, the outcast in his own home. And Raizen: the killer, the overshadowed, and the outcast in his own life. Raizen hated knowing that there were those who had no love in their life...and hated himself for hosting the God of Hatred.

Suddenly, Naruto flared up, his chakra as red as Koen's as it released around the boy in massive amounts. He charged the young genius again, and it seemed Neji had won...until Naruto revealed just how tricky he was, and finished it with an uppercut from underground. Everyone was staring in awe as Neji flew, landed on his back, and didn't get up. The crowd was alive with cheering, as they all saw Naruto do the impossible: A loser beat a genius.

Shikamaru looked at the trio, nerves building up. Koen caught his eye, and the snake adopted a serious expression. "I am looking forward to fighting you, Shikamaru. I don't intend to destroy you, but I do."

"Then maybe I should forfeit now," he said, trying to grin. It failed as Koen's eyes turned almost deadly.

"Then maybe when we work together, I won't do what I need to, and you can suffer, too." Shikamaru blinked in confusion. "I get it; you didn't really want to do this. I get that you're a lax-natured kid with no ambitions. I get that you think everything from waking up in the morning to going to sleep at night is troublesome. But, the most worthwhile things are going to require work. Get over yourself, get over the 'troublesome' shit, and learn how to be a man. Otherwise, no one will support you or your goals, when you finally express them."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. Either he figured it was too troublesome to try and argue, or he saw the point of the other's words, and decided to try following the advice. Either way, he looked more serious and sullen at the moment, so it was anyone's guess how his mind was working...except Asuma. He smirked as he saw the look from his seat; whatever had just been exchanged, Shikamaru was now planning.

The blonde came up to the observation box amid congratulations from Raizen, and the Examiner went up to speak with the Hokage and Kazekage. They spoke together quietly, rapidly, and when the Examiner returned, Tenso had a sinking feeling in his gut that Sasuke was about to either get disqualified, or get lucky as sin.

"The match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara is suspended for the moment! On to the next match! Koen Enryuu versus Shikamaru Nara!" Amidst the chaos of boos and angry shouting Koen looked at Shikamaru expectantly, and they both jumped down in unison, walking to the field. Shikamaru looked scared, but determined. Koen looked like he was thinking, which made the other two Pillars glance at each other with partial grins. If Koen was in thinking mode, this fight was not going to end with Shikamaru dead; he would definitely be rethinking every single choice he made in his life to reach the end of that fight, but he would at least be alive.


	21. Strategy

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 21: The Art of Strategy

"_The match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara is suspended for the moment! On to the next match! Koen Enryuu versus Shikamaru Nara!" Amidst the chaos of boos and angry shouting Koen looked at Shikamaru expectantly, and they both jumped down in unison, walking to the field. Shikamaru looked scared, but determined. Koen looked like he was thinking, which made the other two Pillars glance at each other with partial grins. If Koen was in thinking mode, this fight was not going to end with Shikamaru dead; he would definitely be rethinking every single choice he made in his life to reach the end of that fight, but he would at least be alive._

Koen took one place, kicking the tip of his boot against the ground lightly, digging a little hole. Shikamaru had no nervous signs except the look on his face. "Begin!" The Examiner shouted; in that instant, Koen's hands were a blur, as were Shikamaru's.

"_Forbidden Fire Style: Infernal Serpent Jutsu!"_ Koen roared again, as he had at the preliminaries, and a flaming serpent was shooting across the field towards Shikamaru, who was engulfed a moment later. The explosion sent pillars of smoke across the field, and Koen was already moving, heading for the wall without shadows. Why, no one seemed to get, until the giant tendril of shadow tried to grab him from within the smoke. It was still Shadow Possession, but the smoke had given him more shadow to work with, and he was using it to his advantage. Koen shot up the wall, watching the tendril try its hardest to keep up, but once he was at the top of the wall, the tendril was no thicker than a pencil, and it still couldn't touch. "Time for the fun part," Koen muttered to himself, seeing his opponent; there was a tree missing from the perimeter, and blackened ash where the boy had been.

Shikamaru watched him as the shadow began slithering back down the wall, the smoke clearing causing the reach to significantly drop. Seeing Koen up there made him realize that he was in this fight with almost no idea of what the guy could do besides get buff and make fire.

Koen decided to show him with actions, rather than words. He stood, stretched, and crouched again, before jumping with all the strength he had. Everyone watched as the boy went up, and up, and up again, and then they were blinded by the sun. As he dropped, his body began glowing with chakra, and those with binoculars or doujutsu like the Sharingan and Byakugan would see an arm cocked back like the hammer of god, the fist at the end giving off such a strong glow that it was almost blinding itself.

"That's the best part of Meteor Style for you," Tenso said, watching with Rai as the boy struck the ground that Shikamaru had just vacated. The impact alone was like a tungsten rod from space, sending a wave of kinetic force and dust outwards; the blast zone was far larger than Shikamaru realized, and he was flying too, but he caught himself before he smacked the ground hard. "It can only be utilized properly by a Host."

"All of our skills can only be properly utilized by a Host. Our ancestors learned most of their skills from the Gods, remember?" Rai reminded as Koen pulled himself out of the hole he'd made, which, ironically, had also hit Naruto's tunnels and made him go deeper down.

As he reached the surface, he saw the line moving towards him. It was tiny, but the difference between it and the dusty ground around it was glaring to the snake boy. He jumped again, backwards this time. The blow hadn't been enough to put the genius even as far as on his ass, but Koen was far from done. With the ground now cracked and a gaping hole before him, his hands were a blur again.

"_Forbidden Magma Style: Core Upheaval Jutsu!"_ The aura around him concentrated upon his fist, then to the palm of his hand, making an orb. He casually tipped his hand over, and the orb fell into the crevice. He jumped back further this time, towards the wall, and the whole field seemed to explode. The ground was a burning, magma surface, spreading towards Shikamaru with speed unnatural for burning rock on flat ground.

The young genius jumped to the wall like Koen was racing to do, watching as the trees caught fire and the whole field turned from a pretty and peaceful place into a visage of hell itself. However, with the glow from the flames and magma, there were millions more shadows along everywhere, especially the walls. He signed rapidly, bringing them together for his technique. _"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" _ The line from his shadow shot out to one side, connecting to every little shadow dancing along the wall until the space between the two was looking like a spider web of shadows.

Koen stretched and started signing. Once more, he created the serpent of magma, which took the long way around, diving into the magma and coming out much larger. He cut the technique and again Substituted, this time for a tree that still had some leaves left on it. The explosion was kind of depressing to watch, because Shikamaru knew that would have probably killed him, judging from the massive amount of smoke this explosion had caused.

He looked to Koen, who just pointed behind the boy with a smirk.

Shikamaru barely had enough time to blink before he felt the pain at the base of his skull that said something the size of a small frying pan had just smashed itself against him. He flew forward, barely having enough time to catch hold of the wall before he was dropping, and two Koens were meeting where he had been an instant before, the real one ripping through the fake with ease, the minor explosion that followed saying it was a Fire Clone.

'_He is faster than he seems, for a lazy punk.'_

"_**Your intelligence is what you must keep using against a foe like him."**_ Hissorius was amused by the amount of power the boy was conserving, instead of exploding in repressed rage and wiping the other boy out with raw force. Probably because if Shiden could predict his movements with ease, Shikamaru could too, even without the Sharingan.

Koen took a long, slow breath in and out. His hands, clenched into fists whenever they weren't signing during this fight, slowly loosened up; the tension that he loved to feel in a painful brawl like what Lee and he could have had was slowly released. He opened his eyes, and noticed Shikamaru watching cautiously from across the wall; he had taken that moment of calm to get away again.

"This is going to be it," Koen called, smirking. "I'm almost out of chakra from all of that," he pointed down, "and that," he pointed to their last little encounter, where a gaping hole now stood in the solid wall, "so this next attack will not be held back."

"Thank you for the warning," Shikamaru called back, his hands resting in a strange position, all the fingers touching. It wasn't a jutsu, Koen could tell that much. Probably a thinking posture, like Shiden had. "I'm almost out, too, so my next move will probably be my last."

"And you believe you can win?" Koen asked, stretching as he stood on the side of the wall. The two were locked at the eye now, ready to end it.

"I believe that with enough belief, I might." That was good enough for Koen.

He signed rapidly as Shikamaru did the same, and then Koen was running, while Shikamaru steadied his stance. The snake Host seemed to vanish the last few feet, reappearing behind the shinobi with far his clothes far looser on his frame. However, as soon as his foot touched the wall so he could put his whole weight into a downward smash, he was frozen stiff, his fist full of glowing chakra going into the same hand sign as the boy's. Shikamaru stood and turned, smirking, as Koen's face contorted first from shock to rage, then to acceptance, then to curiosity as he wondered how the boy knew he was going to do that.

"You used your Mass Compression trick again," the genius said without prompting. "I noticed instantly by your last sign, but you held it until you got closer. I realized that only once you released the signs would the technique activate, so I figured you were going to try to trick me, make my shadow overextend, then get around it with speed. You have great tactics, but you like the close game too much to let it end any other way but with a fist." Shikamaru's hands stopped the sign, but the technique held.

Koen braced himself for the fall, for whatever sort of trick the other would use to finish him; even if he didn't outright lose, he was burnt of personal chakra, and he would not rely on the snake's power. He would _not._

His eyes got wide when he saw Shikamaru raise his hand, his own going up as well. "I forfeit," Shikamaru called to the judge, who had been waiting atop the wall for it to end. "Even though he said he's out of chakra, I know better. He's smart enough to keep something in reserve, and his fists are a better weapon than anything else he brought to this little party. My body is almost fully drained, however; between keeping hold of him and the wall, I will fall within the next two minutes. If this fight continues, one of us, likely me, will suffer unnecessary injury." He looked at Koen, smirking a bit more. "Besides, if I didn't, I'd have to fight someone even more unpredictable, like your brothers. I know better than to try and fight them." His hand fell as the cheers and boos in equal measure began, the jutsu ending and Koen just staring.

"Winner, Koen Enryuu!" the Examiner said, lifting his hand. The sounds intensified, as if the ghosts of his Village had joined the cheering and jeering, or maybe his hearing had finally gotten back from battle mode, where only his opponent's sounds mattered.

Then he held out a hand, and Shikamaru took it, expecting what came next: a pull in, and a punch to the gut. "You are an idiot," Koen said, patting his new friend on the shoulder. "I like you. We'll have to work together soon. With our tactics combined, I can see many missions being easy. And we'll have to train together, too. Can't have you being all brain and no brawn anymore." Shikamaru's face went from pained entertainment to just pained.

Then the Hallowed Grounds shinobi and second Semi-Finalist jumped off the wall, his body alight with the red chakra again, but this was far more majestic, far more terrifying, with the way that his eyes seemed to glow golden, and it seemed to almost become flames at the edges of his cloak. His hands were a blur until he hit the magma...then they were digging into the flaming stuff, his feet not sinking in at all. A moment later, the ground turned solid again, albeit without a single blade of grass and only the burnt, ashen corpses of trees. Shikamaru just took the walking way down, and over to the stands to join Choji.

When Koen returned to the competitors' box, Shiden was there, waiting with a look that wouldn't have been out of place on a statue, no emotion at all. This was bad, as that meant he was outraged and holding back from showing it in front of people. "Good job," he said, giving a light grin as he patted the boy on the shoulder. "Now spend the rest of the first round doing diamond clap pushups. With Rai, then Tenso on your back." Koen chuckled a bit, but moved to the back of the three-walled room. Raizen dragged him back up front, almost putting his head between the bars to keep him there, but Koen resisted with minimal effort.

"The fuck you doing? I actually want to see this fight." When Koen went down to start, Rai sat on his back like they had done this a million times before (they had), crossing his legs and entering a meditative position. If Koen was working his body, Rai would work his mind.

Shiden laughed at his brothers, clapping Tenso on the back. "You're next, Tenso. Make the Villages and your clan proud."

"What about my family?" Tenso countered, looking a bit sick.

"You're a Host, you're alive, and you're working with us. We couldn't be prouder if we tried." Tenso stared as Shiden ruffled his hair and walked away, humming some tuneless little song that, if they had been paying attention, marked every time Koen had made a step during the fight. Sadly, Rai and Koen were lost in their own worlds, and Tenso had to go and do his fight. Kankuro seemed hesitant for a moment...then Temari's voice seemed to reach them both. "You can do it, Kankuro! Get some payback for me!"

Kankuro sighed, grit his teeth, and joined the youngest candidate on the field.


	22. Pulling Strings

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 22: Pulling Strings

_Shiden laughed at his brothers, clapping Tenso on the back. "You're next, Tenso. Make the Villages and your clan proud."_

"_What about my family?" Tenso countered, looking a bit sick._

"_You're a Host, you're alive, and you're working with us. We couldn't be prouder if we tried." Tenso stared as Shiden ruffled his hair and walked away, humming some tuneless little song that, if they had been paying attention, marked every time Koen had made a step during the fight. Sadly, Rai and Koen were lost in their own worlds, and Tenso had to go and do his fight. Kankuro seemed hesitant for a moment...then Temari's voice seemed to reach them both. "You can do it, Kankuro! Get some payback for me!"_

_Kankuro sighed, grit his teeth, and joined the youngest candidate on the field._

Tenso was waiting patiently, fixing his senbon holders on his wrists. It was agitation that was getting to him; this guy had the gall to hide and be tricky in his fight. Sure, it saved his life, but in a _fight_, that was not the way. Still, he was ready. He had trained his Byakugan, reading the colors of chakra, the strength of output; he had improved greatly in his month.

"Go Tenso! You've got this!" The crowd was strangely quiet for this match; maybe because of the upset of the last, or maybe because none of them had heard of the Hallowed Grounds. That was still the name of the Village they were entered under. Regardless, Tenso heard his girlfriend calling his name. That was a good feeling.

Kankuro growled in frustration, pulling his puppet Karasu from his back; the kid knew about it, he'd seen it, the trick wouldn't likely work twice. He had seen the steel hydra in action. Temari had speed on her side. He needed to concentrate to use Karasu. This would be a difficult fight.

"Beat him, Kankuro!" Temari called from beside their sensei, and he growled again, the puppet unraveling and the chakra threads connecting. Kankuro wasn't sure how this fight would play out. Not at all. He was afraid of that, that he didn't know what this kid could really do. Still, no time like the present to find out.

The two stood in their little field of death, the field much harder beneath their feet than when the grass had been covering it. The ashen stumps of the trees were a miserable reminder of what this place had been not even an hour before. "Ready?" The Examiner said, looking between them. "Begin!"

Kankuro sent the puppet at the kid, who just dodged around it and went straight for Kankuro. The puppeteer was used to this kind of tactic, his puppet pursuing with inhuman speed. One blade cut through the fabric of his jacket and hit his arm, a splash of red escaping as the boy jumped aside, the puppet cutting off his direct path to the older boy. Then he felt it, the disorienting feeling of something pumping into his blood that wasn't supposed to be. They had learned to detect most poisons and tranquilizers used by shinobi, and Tenso was the best choice for the job; he jabbed one of his senbon into the wound, channeling green healing chakra along it. A purplish liquid seeped out, just a few drops, but Kankuro knew what it meant; the kid could draw out poisons.

He sent Karasu after Tenso again, blades ready to stab and slash. Tenso entered a defensive stance, his breathing slower as he caught the first pair of blades, using their leverage to flip over the second pair as they stabbed at him. In the air, he tightened his grip on the arms he had, brought his feet down on the puppet's back, rolled them forwards and onto his feet, and threw with all of his bodily might, sending the puppet straight at its master. Kankuro tried to redirect it, bringing it to a stop just in time for Tenso to close the distance himself. His hands were alight with chakra, and when he struck, it was with two fingers, the rest curled into his hand. He drove the fingers straight through the chest of the puppet, and out the back.

However, the maker of the puppet seemed to have prepared for such a show of force, for the moment Kankuro saw the hand exit, he signed rapidly, and Tenso nearly screamed as he felt several stabbing pains along his arm. He ripped it back through the hole, and everyone gasped as they saw the blood-soaked sleeve, the droplets falling to the ground as Tenso dodged a pair of swipes from the bladed arms. Tenso felt the poison, his adrenaline making it move faster.

The Hallowed Grounds shinobi retreated a bit, dodging poison gas bombs and poison kunai, though he was beginning to slip; more than one nicked him as he got to a safe distance. He took more of his senbon and began stabbing the marks, and now everyone was seeing his unusual technique. Still, it wasn't faulty, as he continued to pull the poison from him while dodging. When he was purged completely, he pulled the needles free, twirling each one before slipping it into his other hand.

Kankuro glared in suspicion at the boy, his puppet falling back to his side for the moment. So, he hadn't been hallucinating that he had healed Temari after the mortal blow. This kid could heal and summon. He was a freaking white mage! But, there were no teammates, and after seeing that blow penetrate his puppet, he was a bit nervous. Karasu was still in one piece, but the hole was almost a clean circle through front and back, and if the puppet was actually destroyed, he'd be defenseless.

Tenso wasn't waiting for that, however; Kankuro watched as the boy signed rapidly, and the muscles around his eyes tensed up. When he opened them again, much of the crowd gasped; on the monitor, they saw the white eyes of the Byakugan. Before, this many people within such a short distance would have overwhelmed him to the point of incapacitation. Now, he knew how to filter it, how to ignore what wasn't important. Training with the eyes on for a week straight, even in the Village, had helped that.

Kankuro was about to just say fuck it and raise his hand when Tenso held his own up in a stopping motion. "I'll tell you something, Kankuro of the Sand; I hate cowards." He threw his needles, each one hitting nothing close to Kankuro. However, Kankuro made the puppet prepare to defend him anyway, firing poison gas bombs all around. Tenso dodged back further, and dragged his palm along the bloody arm. "At least you're a coward unwilling to give up. I can respect you."

Kankuro grit his teeth, and sent the puppet forward, through the smoke to try and get him before the summoning could be completed. There was a gigantic explosion of white smoke, and the crowd was tense. A moment later, Karasu was thrown like a ragdoll, and four metallic snake heads were rising from the smoke, glaring at the puppeteer in unison. "This is Shi," Tenso's voice said, the smoke clearing to show him sitting at the base of all four necks, just grinning. "Unlike Nii, Shi is a bit more aggressive. And he can move." The larger summoned creature let out four identical screeches, one from each mouth. Then, it attacked.

Kankuro was running. The puppet was wrapped around his shoulders, and he was up the wall in seconds. "You're insane!" Kankuro shouted as one of the serpents took a swipe at him.

"No, I'm powerful," Tenso called back with a smirk, running up one of the necks as they struck at the wall, making Kankuro dance around on the top. Tenso's eyes were almost glowing as he raced up, slamming his heel into the side of Kankuro's head as the young man tried to dodge a serpent. He slid along the wall, the puppet tangling with his own limbs.

Almost without his own volition, Tenso's eyes went to his brothers; they were watching in morbid amusement, the torture of the weak animal before it was put down. Then he found Ino. She was watching, her face unreadable. He wasn't sure what she was thinking. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Then he focused solely on Kankuro and Karasu. The puppeteer was still full of chakra, probably from his training as such. The puppet had plenty of chakra stored inside, channeled almost through the entire body. That was intriguing because it meant that there were numerous other traps and uses within the body that had not yet been revealed. Lastly, his eyes traveled back to the field, looking over the few scrapes they had put on it since Koen had "fixed" it. He found his senbon, making note of the distance.

Kankuro's arms twitched, and there was a pulse of chakra along them, heading through the strings and into the puppet. It jerked to life and leapt at Tenso, who noticed every little jerk of the chakra through the creation. Tenso realized it; the other was holding back. He didn't want to show his full potential with the puppet, most likely in case they became enemies. He deflected the blows and jabbed a senbon with chakra thread attached right into the puppet's third eye. The mouth opened, and an explosive tag was jammed over it; Tenso kicked the puppet back to its owner, and the explosion obscured the people's view, but not Tenso's; he'd seen the gas bomb break the tag, but not before it caused an explosion that broke the mouth gun, and completely destroyed the bottom jaw. His senbon and chakra thread was still intact.

Kankuro cursed and began a series of rapid and complex hand signs, the flow along the threads increasing suddenly. Then, all of the pieces disconnected, leaving a tattered remain of a puppet as the smoke cleared. Everyone was waiting to see what would happen now.

Tenso smirked lightly, rotating his neck and popping it. "You're a tricky sort of coward. I like that." He started running forward, and Kankuro acted once he was amid the scattered pieces of the puppet. They all sprouted blades and rushed at him, only to pierce their own head as he substituted for it, putting him at point-blank range with Kankuro. Hiashi Hyuuga, who had only come to see Neji's fight, had returned to see the rest anyway, and he stared in awe as the young man entered his family's stance.

"Eight Trigrams..." He jabbed both palms against the man's chest. "Two palms!" As Kankuro staggered back, Tenso jumped up and did the same motion he had against the puppet, running up and grabbing his shoulders, though this time when he went vertical, he flung them both to the side, off the wall. Kankuro pulled his puppet with them, but in the air, Tenso didn't have to worry about foot positioning or balance. His feint had cut off two chakra points, at least, and he was about to lower the boom on this match. The hydra had been watching patiently, and it was still doing so as Tenso and the other boy hit the hard ground, rolling until Kankuro pulled one of Tenso's senbon from the clip and jabbed it in the boy's arm. They disconnected then, and Tenso pulled the object from himself immediately, throwing it just like the others, at something Kankuro wasn't seeing.

Instead of worrying about it, however, he sent the rebuilt Karasu after the kid. Tenso smirked, and danced away, around, and then under, making a tugging motion with one hand. Karasu did a full flip and its head hit the ground with a sharp crack. Whatever he had done to the head earlier was still in effect! Tenso smirked as he whipped the head around again, slinging the puppet at its master. That was when he realized it; there was something attached to his puppet! He whipped the puppet back around at Tenso, who smirked as his cable of chakra became visible, and the head was whipped off of the puppet.

Kankuro could only stare as the blade on the end of the neck whipped around towards his face. He ducked under it, and the head returned to Tenso. He grinned. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"You use chakra to connect to the puppet just like I do. You just use the needle to push out mine." Kankuro whipped the puppet around without the head to strike at Tenso with four blades. He let them impale the head, and he struck with his secondary trap. The seemingly discarded needles whipped around and connected to the puppet, and slowly, jerkily, the puppet replaced its head and turned towards Kankuro.

"...Is it being a coward when the odds are so far out of my favor the only option is quitting or death?" he asked, glaring at the kid. Even Temari was staring at the upset that Tenso had caused.

"It isn't. It's quite logical."

Kankuro raised his hand, and the judge nodded. The crowd was fairly livid now; two quits in a row was not how they wanted this going. Tenso knew what they wanted; they wanted blood and someone getting maimed. Naruto had marks on his chest and arms from where Neji had struck; Neji himself had been hauled away on a stretcher.

Raizen was watching from Koen's back as the snake host continued his pushups as he had been told. "You're just a heartless fighter like the rest of us, you know that?" Rai asked after the hydra was banished.

"I fought to stop him. If I fought to win, he would have been impaled on his own puppet's knives for what he did to my arm." He slowly began to heal his wounds, sighing lightly.

"You're dark when you don't like something."

"I hated puppets when I was little, still hate them. I mean, they're so creepy. Soulless creatures..."

"And your mechanical horde is not?" Koen countered.

Tenso rolled his eyes. "They have souls, and they are not creepy."

"That's your prerogative," Koen said, rolling his eyes in return as he continued his pushups. "Shiden thinks they're all plotting on murdering us in our sleep and taking over the world."

"Who told you about Operation Heavy Metal?!" Tenso demanded.

Koen laughed as Raizen got up, stretching. "I look forward to fighting you next round, Tenso. You'll regret not letting puppet boy win."

Tenso shrugged as he took the chimera host's place on Koen's back, entering a meditative stance of his own.

Raizen hopped down, smirking back at the bug boy. "Let's go, Aburame."

Shino came down beside the boy, and they walked to the middle of the ring. "I have been looking forward to a fight with someone worth showing my skills off for," Shino said, stretching his hands out. Raizen nodded, stretching himself; both boys were looking forward to giving the crowd something to think about.


	23. Disappointment

Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 3: The Third Test; Chapter 23: Disappointment

_Raizen got up, stretching. "I look forward to fighting you next round, Tenso. You'll regret not letting puppet boy win."_

_Tenso shrugged as he took the chimera host's place on Koen's back, entering a meditative stance of his own._

_Raizen hopped down, smirking back at the bug boy. "Let's go, Aburame."_

_Shino came down beside the boy, and they walked to the middle of the ring. "I have been looking forward to a fight with someone worth showing my skills off for," Shino said, stretching his hands out. Raizen nodded, stretching himself; both boys were looking forward to giving the crowd something to think about._

Shiden had retreated to standing near Temari, Kankuro, and their Jonin squad leader, Baki. He wanted to apologize, but he realized that anything he said would be hollow. Tenso had annihilated two of them without much more than raw power and half a strategy, something the boy was never really known for in missions. He had tactically removed the advantages of the two before striking or offering surrender. Both had failed.

Still, Temari kept throwing glares at him, as if expecting him to politely walk off a cliff. He said nothing, just kept watching as Raizen and Shino took places on the battlefield. "Come on Rai," he muttered, again drawing her attention. "If you're not careful, this kid will eat you alive. I hope you weren't dumb enough to ignore our training on this clan..."

'_...Right. Bug boy is going to try and devour my chakra, and I have no idea how evolved his little bastards are. What else would he have been doing all month but feeding on remnants and spying on our tactics.'_ Ren had allowed himself to go into full paranoia mode, for it made him much harder to deal with. He stretched a bit, flexing his hands as Shino pushed his glasses back up on his face. There was an insect on the end of his finger as he pulled it away, and it took flight the moment the Examiner shouted, "Begin!"

Raizen immediately began signing. _"Lightning Style: Crackling Seeker Shots!"_ He pulled his hands apart to a loud static noise emitting from each, blue sparks surrounding his fingertips. He pointed a finger at the bug, and it was suddenly sizzling with electricity.

"You compressed the chakra to your fingertips to make the bolt stronger, even with such a small size." Shino had no change in tone or facial expression from mildly disinterested. "Let's see how many you can make before one of my bugs gets through." He put his hands together, and the swarm began to appear, flying towards Raizen with intent to suck him dry.

He chuckled. "With how little chakra this requires, I could shoot down your whole colony." He seemed calm, waiting for the swarm to get closer. Shino noticed this, and ordered them to circle for the moment. However, the moment they began to get around him, he signed again, even with the sparks flying off of his fingers. _"Storm Style: Static Field Jutsu!"_ He clapped the hands together, and the screech that they emitted, along with the sparks, seemed to temporarily paralyze the bugs, which fell in droves. He darted across the field while Shino seemed to be reeling from the sudden loss of so many insects, but they were only stunned; the first one was a crispy critter, the rest were luckier.

As Rai's fist connected with the bug boy's face, he felt a sting on the back of his hand, and he saw the bug that had delivered it; it didn't have wings, so it was painfully murdered when Rai slapped a chakra-coated hand down on it. Whatever it had done was doing the trick, however; Raizen felt his chakra level suddenly drop, like Tenso had made a chakra point bleed. He looked at his hand, and felt the painful spot flare up. Growling, he retreated and channeled a tiny amount of God Chakra to the wound, sealing it.

"That's not nice," he growled, his pupil slowly turning into a slash on the gold. His hands were again a blur, this time a golden chakra forming around them.

'_That idiot,'_ three voices thought in unison, watching as lightning began to spread over the body.

"_Storm Style: Cyclone Disk Jutsu!"_ The disk of wind and lightning was forming, a crackling, almost buzzing noise filling the air. He had been working on it for a long time, trying to perfect the skill like his father had. The man was so talented before he died, he could combine the Weather Ball Jutsu with it, so the storm literally pulled itself together at the zenith of the cyclone.

Shiden's eyes slowly turned red as Tenso's turned white, both watching the field carefully as Rai threw the disk with all of his might. Shino jumped aside as it came, but Shiden and Tenso saw what the tenacious host had done: As the disk got close enough to Shino, he pulled back on what some thought were imaginary strings, but were really chakra threads. As he pulled it and the disk was stopped, he signed the release with his free hand. "Katsu," he intoned, as the disk exploded into a roaring storm of wind and lightning. With how close he was, there was little chance Shino could have escaped.

Then Raizen felt the sting on the back of his neck, and swatted it again. This time, it bit harder, and he could feel his flesh tear as it dug in. He pulled at the creature, ripping it off and crushing it without looking at it. He felt his body slowing down, his skin suddenly aflame. It was venomous, whatever it had been, and he could feel it literally dissolving his normal chakra reserves from that point down. "You should be careful," a voice said from behind him. He spun around to see Shino and a fair remainder of his swarm, intact. "If you get bitten by a few more of those, you won't be able to move, let alone generate chakra, for a while."

"It's a good thing my own chakra is the least of my power." His body was suddenly awash in a green/blue chakra, his muscles tense and his eyes suddenly much more aware. His pupils were slashes of black in a realm of gold and red.

"So, you can control nature chakra, too." Shino raised his hands, and his bugs returned to him for the moment. "That's a trait I can respect." He began signing, and when he raised his hands again, several larger-than-average and faster-than-usual bugs flew out.

Rai growled to himself, lashing out with his modified chakra cloak. The moment the insects were hit by it, however, they seemed to latch on, and they dug through the chakra to try and get to his skin. A surge of golden chakra shot through the cloak and speared each insect, but just touching them seemed to drain away the chakra faster than their bite had.

"And you have some immense chakra control," Shino observed further, channeling more chakra to his insects and sending the full swarm forth again. The difference was drastic, and Raizen knew that he had jumped completely blind into this fight. He hadn't tried to study the boy himself. He'd studied the clan plenty, but that was little enough support against an individual. And it was going to cost him.

Rai drew several kunai as he started running. The swarm was in hot pursuit, following the wisps of chakra flowing off of his cloak. From his own practice in the state against his brothers, he knew he had about five minutes before the nature chakra burned out, and he was stuck solely with God Chakra. He would win if he used it, but the little bits he'd used so far had him in deep shit with Shiden, already. He could almost feel those red eyes, the little tomoe making it look like he had two pupils per eye.

'_Well, If I am going to be in trouble, I might as well be for a mountain as a molehill.'_ He began signing, and the blue-green chakra began to get a gold swirl through it, mixing and diluting the raw nature chakra. His cloak now looked almost like his God, the two heads forming just above his own, the snake tail slowly stretching from his lower back. His hands were covered in golden claws, like a lion's. He willingly went to all fours as the power flowed over him, then shot off like a bullet, leaving a dust stream as he was up the wall in less than ten seconds.

"I told him not to do it," Shiden muttered to himself, shaking his head. Temari was in shock as she saw this, looking to the kid like he was responsible for bringing a monster to the fight...when he was responsible for bringing three, actually. "I told that idiot that his God chakra wasn't to be used frivolously. He's already lost, he just hasn't realized it yet."

Rai began signing rapidly as the swarm approached, all galvanized by the power of nature chakra, and hungry for more. "Shit," he growled to himself, creating his trademark Lightning Rise...then he took it a step further and created the Hurricane Drop on his left hand. He charged what chakra he could spare to his feet, and jumped up, over the swarm, and straight for Shino. He heard the swarm as it followed him, felt the bugs beginning to catch his legs and bite, but he still had his cloak to protect him...or did he? He felt the pain of the bugs, and saw the cloak flickering. He stared, dumbfounded; what had gone wrong?! Where had he...Then he felt a sudden and extreme pain at the back of his neck, and his whole body was wracked with spasms, like he'd electrocuted himself in the shower. Again.

He landed on his stomach, clutching at his neck, right at Shino's feet. "You miscalculated when you tried ripping my bug off," Shino said calmly. "The head lives on, and it's even regrown thanks to your power." The boy held out a hand, and a fat, bloated creature buzzed heavily to the boy's hand. "It's even changed because of what you fed it. I can't wait to see what kind of children it has."

Before Raizen could comment on the sick shit that was breeding insects, a foot met his mouth, and he tasted copper before he blacked out. He didn't hear the call, didn't feel the bugs leave him, didn't feel the stretcher when it picked his sad body up and carried him off to medical. No, the only thing he felt was the unbearable shame that had engulfed him the moment he realized that he was going to fail, the moment a combat sandal met his face.

Shiden was watching in mild amusement as Raizen got dragged off the field, hiding the annoyance beneath the surface. His brother had overreacted, hadn't been cautious, and unlike with Koen, his opponent didn't quit. Tenso was the only one who had been remotely ready for his fight, the only one who had planned his fight carefully and executed it flawlessly. He hadn't even had to rely on the Byakugan, it just helped him set up his win.

He glanced at Temari, who was still looking between him and the match. "I don't suppose I could get you to forgive Tenso for stabbing you, could I?"

She shrugged. "He's not at fault, it was a fight. And he healed me after, better than any medic I've seen. Not even a scar."

He shrugged in return. "Well, if you have nothing against my team, maybe I could take you out sometime. Nice dinner, maybe get into a couple of fights, just an all-around good time."

She laughed quite scornfully, looking at him with a distasteful smirk. "Sorry, junior. I don't date younger guys. And my brothers would kill you before you could ask for a second date, anyway." Baki made a noise, and the two Sand Genin made to follow him. "See you around, kiddo," She said, looking back with that smirk still in place.

Shiden didn't know what this feeling inside was, or why he was suddenly feeling embarrassed that she was taller than him, but he suddenly didn't feel like just letting it drop. Tenso had gotten himself a girl, and Rai was wearing Sakura down...right?

"He lost!" Tenso exclaimed, watching Rai's retreating body as it was carried to the hospital area.

"That he did," Koen replied, still doing pushups until he was told otherwise. "How did he lose? I saw him rip the bug off, and I didn't see anything left in his skin."

"The bug was already dug in deep," Tenso said simply. "He had lost before he even used his nature chakra. He's lucky he didn't turn to stone from use!"

"I'm surprised the bugs didn't. He must have fed them with nature chakra before this."

"Must have."

"So, Sasuke's up next. If he shows up." Even with Rai eliminated, there was still one fight left. Looking at the crowd, both boys saw Sakura and Ino and Choji, though Sakura was the only one really looking worried; Rai had just lost, and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Ino's boyfriend was in the next round and Choji didn't have a dog in the fight anymore, so he was just there to watch and enjoy himself. There were no signs of white or black hair near the only non-participating member of Team 7.

Then Koen and Tenso saw Shiden, who had begun talking to the fan-girl. Whatever he said didn't seem to go down well; she laughed scornfully and turned her back on him, walking with her teammates down to see Gaara.

However, they were too late, as he was already standing on the field, waiting for Sasuke to show. It was funny; with how grumpy he looked and how expectant everyone was, it reminded Koen of the time his adopted parents had taken him to see a birth. He hadn't been allowed in, but the father in the waiting room had looked just as grumpy, the rest of the people just as expectant.

Then, just as the judge began pulling out his watch to declare how much time Sasuke had left before he forfeited, there was a huge blast of smoke, and Kakashi and Sasuke were standing there.

"Sorry, are we late?" Kakashi asked, smiling his lipless, one-eyed smile.


End file.
